


Breach

by NCISVU



Category: Combat Hospital, NCIS
Genre: Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-17
Updated: 2013-02-14
Packaged: 2017-11-25 20:53:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 27,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/642855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NCISVU/pseuds/NCISVU
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes a journey halfway around the world and a near death experience to get two stubborn agents to finally confess their feelings to one another. Tibbs slash. Gibbs whump.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something Bigger Than Yourself

**Author's Note:**

> Updates may take a little longer because of the research this story requires but I'll try not to leave you guys hanging for too long.

Gibbs did his best to readjust his gear in the confined quarters of the plane. To say he was uncomfortable was an understatement. He was cramped and unable to move, bogged down with eighty pounds of gear and surrounded by the team of soldiers he'd be jumping with. They'd left the forward operating base thirty minutes ago. It had been thirty minutes of sitting on jump seats in the back of a turbulent airplane, thirty minutes of breathing pure oxygen to prepare their bodies for the HAHO, high altitude – high opening, jump that they were getting ready to perform and thirty minutes of pure adrenaline coursing through their veins as they prepared themselves mentally for their mission. They had fifteen minutes to go.

A week ago Gibbs had been sitting at his desk at NCIS, working hard on wrapping up case reports from the case they'd just closed before they were assigned another one. His former CO from the Corps had come to him along with Skip Dawson, the team leader of SEAL team five. Gibbs still held the sniper record for longest confirmed kill by a couple hundred feet and they needed him to deliver a kill shot from even farther away.

No doubts had crossed his mind; not a 'you're too old' or a 'you haven't done this in over a decade' or anything else. His country had called on him, they needed him and 'yes' was the only answer he could give. He'd been read into the program, shipped down to Virginia Beach to join up with the other SEALs on the team, gone over plans, spent some time at the shooting range and practiced a jump before spending hours on a cargo plane headed for the Afghanistan. Their mission would take place in Pakistan but the goal was to get in, complete their task and get out before anyone knew they were there.

Now Gibbs found himself in another plane, waiting for the alarm and those two words that would get his adrenaline pumping even more: hook up. Xander Moore, the SEAL sitting next to him, whacked his leg and gave Gibbs a thumbs up when he looked at him. Their eyes were covered with goggles and noses and mouths covered with masks delivering oxygen but Gibbs knew the kid was smiling. The kid was always smiling. He returned the gesture then went back to quiet reflection.

When he'd been in the Corps, he'd always used the journey to his destination to go over the mission. This one was one of the most important missions he'd ever been a part of. They were tasked with killing Omar Nadhir, a terrorist who was reportedly planning the next 9-11. That was all the information the CIA deemed the SEALs needed to know.

Fifteen minutes later they were in the drop zone. The alarm sounded, the only thing they could really hear on the noisy aircraft, and they each pulled the man sitting across from them up, standing on their own in the process. They waddled to the door and waited as it opened. Gibbs was the fourth in a six man team.

The jump was the part he was most concerned about. After clearing the plane they'd open their chutes then form a stack and float the remaining thirty miles to their destination. Stacks were tricky and usually practiced by the team multiple times. Gibbs was the newby to this team and had only had time to practice it once. He was a quick learner though, dedicated and determined. He would not let his team down.

The soldier at the door of the aircraft sent the men out one by one, none of them hesitating despite not even being able to see land below. Six chutes opened in the dark night and they got into formation. Skip Dawson, the team leader and one at the bottom of the formation, used a compass to keep them moving in the right direction. There was no moon light and the plane had been flying high enough and far enough away that the enemy wouldn't be alerted. A psychic couldn't have even predicted their presence.

As they neared earth, they scanned the ground beneath them with lasers that could only been seen using the night vision goggles they were wearing. The countryside was vacant. After landing they had about an hour to make it a little less than three miles to the compound Nadhir was hiding out in. So far everything was going as planned but the team knew better than to start getting too cocky.

The team spread out just enough they could land without being on top of each other and immediately scanned their surroundings for threats. "Clear" rang out six times in everyone's earpieces and they lowered their weapons so they could take care of their chutes and rearrange their gear.

Skip did a quick check on his team and within minutes of landing they were ready to continue. "Let's move," he said.

"X-Man, you okay?" Gibbs asked when noticed Xander limping. The two were buddies and it was their job to look out for each other.

Xander nodded. "Yeah, man, landed in a pothole and twisted my ankle. I'll walk it off."

Gibbs nodded, knowing any one of them could've broken a leg and still continued on the mission. They were all a part of something bigger than themselves. That's what set them and all other soldiers apart.

When they were about halfway to their final destination, Skip was notified by the command post that the weekly, middle of the night summit at Nadhir's compound had just started. They were watching via drone and relaying information to the team on the ground.

Fifty two minutes after starting the 3.4 mile hike, the SEALs arrived at their intended location in the hills surrounding Nadhir's compound. Three teams of two fanned out, two of them to provide cover and one, Gibbs and Xander, to get ready to take Nadhir down. After a failed raid on the compound a week prior, the terrorists were on high alert. Sniping the leader from nearly two thousand yards away was their best bet and safest option.

"Not a lot of wind tonight," Xander said. He was also a sniper and was set up not far from Gibbs. Usually only one sniper was used but due to the importance of this mission and the sheer distance of the shot, they were using two in hopes of doubling their chances.

"I know luck is for the unprepared but if low wind means we're lucky, I'll take it," Gibbs said.

"How we doing?" Skip asked over the comm.

"Got the compound in my sites," Gibbs replied.

"Ditto," Xander added. "Waiting for the summit to finish and Nadhir to show his ugly mug."

"Good," Skip said. "All's clear back here."

Bravo Team, which was Skip and Spence, were behind the snipers and to the left. Charlie Team, Willy and Bates, were behind and to the right while Alpha Team, Gibbs and Xander, were waiting to take out their target. Al-Qaeda had increased patrols after the first failed raid but in their arrogance, they'd decided not to move their leader. They figured if the Americans had failed at their first attempt, Nadhir was untouchable and there was no need to move him.

Skip reported back to the command post that they were in position then they hunkered down to wait. The summits usually took anywhere from an hour to four. The SEALs were hoping it would be shorter so they could get out of there before daylight. If they didn't, they'd have to wait until the following night to be extracted. It was dangerous enough to fly a helicopter into that area at night; it would be guaranteed death in daylight.

"Anybody else gotta take a leak?" Xander asked into his comm.

"Hold it," all of his teammates groaned while Gibbs just shook his head and smiled.

Xander was definitely the class clown of the group. He kept things light and fun which was priceless stress relief in their line of work. He actually reminded Gibbs a lot of Tony. With his jet black hair, grey eyes and bodybuilder physique he looked nothing like Gibbs' agent but they shared a similar personality which helped Gibbs feel right at home with the team.

He would never admit it out loud but he missed Tony. He missed the others too but he missed Tony the most. The reason for that was a little troubling to him and something he didn't really want to give much thought to but he couldn't deny wanting to get home to see Tony's bright, happy eyes and smiling face… and head slap him for his next wisecrack. Gibbs took a deep, even breath and refocused on his task.

Three long, quiet hours passed before the excitement started.

"I've got movement," both Gibbs and Xander said at the same time.

"Wait till you have a clear shot then take it," Skip replied. "Charlie, how we lookin' over there?"

"Still clear," Bates replied.

"Bravo clear," Skip reported. "It's all you, Alpha."

Gibbs and Xander watched as Nadhir stood in the middle of a group of people, chatting. They knew if they took the shot and missed, the terrorist would run for cover and they'd lose their opportunity. The sheer distance was enough to make it an impossible shot, there was no way they'd be able to hit him if he started running.

"Come on, you bastard," Xander whispered.

"Patience," Skip reminded.

After a brief conversation, the group broke apart and Nadhir headed off with only a few body guards.

"Ready G-Man?" Xander asked.

"Count us down," Gibbs said looking through the scope of his rifle.

"Three… two… one," Xander said.

Both shots were virtually silent. Gibbs and Xander watched as their target fell to a lifeless heap on the group and the bodyguards dropped to his side. It was clear from their actions that the al-Qaeda leader was dead.

"Target down," Gibbs said, his smile evident in his voice.

"Good work, boys," Skip said. It wasn't a perfect takedown in that the SEALs didn't get to take pictures and DNA to confirm their target's identity but it was very clear he was dead and the intelligence and surveillance they had were top rate. They were willing to say with 99.9% certainty that Nadhir was dead.

"Cool thing about this, G-Man, is that when you get back to the US this'll be all over the news," Xander said.

"Let's get outta enemy territory before we start celebrating," Skip said.

"Is command gonna extract us tonight?" Xander asked.

"Still waiting for confirmation," Skip said. "Let's start heading to the rendezvous. Won't be long before this hill's flooded with al-Qaeda looking for us."

They hadn't been walking very long when they got their answer. "Extraction has been deemed too dangerous," command reported to the SEALs over the comm. "By the time we could get there, dawn would be breaking. Standby until dusk."

"Standing by," Skip said. He looked at the faces of his men and smiled despite their predicament. After killing the terrorist, nothing was going to get them down. They had enough food and water to get them through the day and even though al-Qaeda was roaming all over the countryside, they knew they could find a cave to take cover in. They'd make the best of what they had. It's what they did every day.

The SEALs moved through the countryside using the last little bit of darkness as added protection. Night vision goggles and lasers lit up the land while everyone's ears were acutely tuned to any noises that would warn of impending danger. They'd all studied maps of the area and were familiar with their surroundings.

"There's a cave about a half a mile from our rendezvous point," Skip said. "Let's check that out."

It wasn't long before exhaustion started taking over. Hiking several miles in the middle of the night carrying eighty pounds of gear and staying on full alert for the enemy nearby was taking its toll. As the adrenaline from their success started wearing off it was getting harder to find the motivation to continue putting one leg in front of the other.

"Are we there yet?" Xander whined playfully.

Without even thinking, Gibbs reached up and head slapped the man.

"Agent Gibbs," Xander said in shock, "you did not just do that!"

"Yes he did, X-Man!" Willy said around a fit of giggles.

"That's what I do to my second when his mouth gets in trouble," Gibbs replied.

"I've never seen X-Man shocked into silence before," Bates said. "Who knew there was somebody out there that could control that mouth of his? Would you care to reenlist and join our team, Agent Gibbs?"

"Traitors," Xander said, pouting like a toddler and looking like he might burst into tears at any moment.

"Aw, we still love you, X-Man," Willy said.

"No, no," Xander replied, barely able to keep the grin off his face. "You guys have made it very clear that you love Agent Gibbs more than me. I see how it is."

"We didn't want you to find out this, man," Bates said, clasping a hand onto Xander's shoulder.

"Look alive," Skip said. "We've got movement off to the east."

With weapons at the ready, the team continued on their way, cautious of the enemy nearby. After another hour of hiking they found the cave, reconed the area then settled in for the wait.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I hate it when Gibbs leaves and doesn't tell us where he's going or what he's doing," Abby whined as she sat at Gibbs' desk.

"Me too," Tony said. "Do you think he's coming back this time? I mean, he has to come back, right?"

"He would not leave without telling us," Ziva said confidently.

"Problems?" Vance asked, coming to a stop in the middle of the bullpen.

"Yeah, where's Gibbs?" Tony asked. "He's been gone for over a week and hasn't called any of us. That's very unlike him. Plus, I've camped out at his house the past three nights and he never showed up."

"Jethro's not in town," Vance said.

"Well where is he?" Abby asked.

"That's classified," Vance answered.

"Is he in the country?" Tony tried, half wondering if the man had run off to Mexico again.

"Classified."

"Have you heard from him?" Tony continued.

"No," Vance answered.

"Is he okay?" Abby asked.

"I'm going under the assumption that no news is good news," Vance said.

"So he is somewhere doing something dangerous," Tony concluded.

"This is Gibbs were talking about," Vance said, "he's always somewhere doing something dangerous."

"Touché," Tony said.

"Get back to work," Vance said. "If I hear anything, I'll let you guys know."

"How long is he supposed to be gone?" Abby asked.

"He wasn't sure," Vance replied before heading back to his office.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After a long day of hiding out in the cave, taking turns resting and enjoying some bonding time, darkness finally came. The command post notified the SEALs that the chopper had just left. The group spent the next forty five minutes grabbing their gear and hiking the short distance to the extrication zone. Getting out was going to prove to be much more challenging than getting in mainly because of the noise the chopper would make and how close it had to get to pick the team up.

When they got word that the chopper was five minutes out, they did one last sweep of the area. Just as they were finishing up, right when they heard the helicopter approaching, they also heard the familiar sound of an RPG being launched. When the rocket propelled grenade made contact with the chopper, a fireball lit up the sky.

"Abort," Skip said.

The SEALs had already started vacating the open area, knowing they'd be sitting ducks if they stayed there. The missile had launched from not far away, al-Qaeda was close by.

"Shit," Spence grumbled. Cory Spencer was the most serious one of the group. He was a realist and a problem solver and though he enjoyed humor, jokes and pranks, missions weren't the time or place for games.

"Break left, break left" Bates said when he caught movement off to their right.

They weren't far from the hills but the whole area was suddenly teeming with terrorists. The terrorists would've easily been able to figure out that the Americans were nearby. They would've known the chopper they shot down was on its way to pick them up. There was a good chance they were listening in on their transmissions.

"Bates, watch out!" Xander yelled but before either of them could react, Gibbs had fired a round through two terrorists' heads.

"That was close," Bates said as they continued moving.

"Too close," Xander said.

"I owe you, Agent Gibbs," Bates said.

"Don't owe me anything," Gibbs said. "Look alive."

Just when the group was starting to wonder if they were going to make it through the night alive, they made it far enough into the hills that there were large boulders, bushes and trees to give them some cover. They bypassed the cave they came across, fearing it'd be too easy of a target.

Skip called into the command post for an airstrike to take the pressure off and within twenty minutes explosions peppered the valley giving the SEALs an opportunity to make their escape. They didn't stop for a break until they made it to the other side of the hill.

"Now what?" Xander asked.


	2. Don't  Know How to Give Up

"Explosions lit up the night sky in the hills west of Mingora, Pakistan last night," the ZNN news anchor reported as Tony straightened his tie on Thursday morning. "We don't have any reports on casualties or even a reason for the airstrike."

The television usually just provided background noise while Tony was getting ready for work each day but for some reason he found himself drawn to this particular story.

"The closest base with US troops is 250 miles west in Kabul, Afghanistan," the reporter continued. "Stay with ZNN and we'll bring you late, breaking updates as we get them on this developing situation."

Tony turned the TV off and tried to ignore the knot forming in his stomach. Something felt off but he couldn't quite put his finger on what.

Thirty minutes later Tony found himself surrounded by silence in the bullpen. He started his computer and immediately opened a search screen. Based on a hunch, he pulled up Gibbs' service record, found his CO's name then pulled up that man's service record.

"Hinky," he said out loud when he saw the CO's picture. That was one of the two men who'd shown up right before Gibbs' mysterious disappearance. The man had had military written all over him; his posture, his strut, his haircut, the way he dressed and he and Gibbs had greeted each other like old friends. Tony knew most of Gibbs' friends were from the Corps and his boss didn't up and leave for just anyone but if his former CO needed something, Gibbs would definitely help him out.

The question was who was the other man who'd shown up? He had the physique of military man and carried himself like a soldier. He was younger than both Gibbs and the CO but obviously wise beyond his years. His shaggy hair and the scruff on his face threw Tony off though. Most military men kept their hair high and tight and a close shave on their faces.

"You're here awfully early," Abby said, cutting through the silence.

"Oh, hey Abs," Tony greeted with a smile as he clicked off the screen showing Gibbs' CO. "You're early too. What's going on?"

"I couldn't sleep," Abby said moving behind Tony's desk and lowering herself into his lap.

Tony wrapped his arms around her and inhaled the fresh scent of her shampoo. There was a short silence before Abby spoke again.

"I miss him."

"Me too."

"Do you ever… I mean, have you ever, you know, gotten a weird feeling like something wasn't right and then something really bad happened?"

"Yeah," Tony answered. "That how you're feelin', Abs?"

"Kinda," Abby answered hesitantly. "Yeah."

"Me too," Tony admitted.

"I'm scared," Abby whispered.

"Gibbs is the most bad ass dude I know," Tony said, trying to encourage both of them. "He can take care of himself. He's defeated death more times than I can count. He'll be alright."

"Are you trying to convince me or you?" Abby asked skeptically.

Tony shrugged and smiled sheepishly. Abby cuddled into his chest and the two sat in amiable silence for a few long moments.

"What were you lookin' at when I came in?" Abby asked.

"Nothin'," Tony lied. "Just old case stuff. Had a hunch this morning when I was getting ready." The two of them had snooped around together on numerous occasions but Tony didn't want to worry Abby anymore than she already was.

"Did it pan out?"

"Not sure yet," Tony answered. "It'll be my project for today."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Leon Vance was more than a little surprised to find Tony waiting for him in his office when he arrived Thursday morning. The younger agent sat at the conference table in the room, fiddling with his phone while Leon put his briefcase under his desk and looked over the notes that had appeared after he'd left the previous night.

"I don't know whether to be impressed that you had the nerve to barge into my office or furious that you're picking up Gibbs' bad habits," Leon finally said.

Tony couldn't help but grin. He loved being compared to Gibbs.

"Wipe that smile off your face," Leon warned. "What can I do for you, Agent DiNozzo?"

"Did you happen to catch the news this morning?" Tony asked.

"It's a challenge to get everyone dressed and out the door on time," Leon replied. "I don't have time to watch the news."

"I saw it," Tony said, "well, some of it. There were explosions in Pakistan overnight which, for some reason made my stomach turn so I put on my investigator hat and did a little digging. Would you care to hear what I learned?"

Vance gave only a slight nod of his head, wondering where Tony was going with this.

"I found out that the man who came in here right before Gibbs disappeared was his former CO," Tony said.

Vance was clearly unimpressed with Tony overstepping his boundaries and made that perfectly clear with the scowl on his face.

"I don't know who that other guy was but judging by his long hair and scraggly face I'm thinking an independent contractor or something. I'm guessing they needed something from Gibbs and considering the fact that Gibbs hasn't called or shown up at his house, he's outta the country."

"You really have picked up Gibbs' bad habits," Leon said. "I told you to leave this alone."

"Is Gibbs in Pakistan?" Tony asked.

"That's classified."

"Come on," Tony said, raising his voice in frustration. "I need to know."

"You want to know," Leon corrected, "and I'm not going to bend the rules like Gibbs does. I can't tell you anything about where he is or what he's doing and I don't know when he'll be back."

Tony huffed his displeasure and slammed his fists down on the table as he stood.

Vance remained silent as Tony stormed out of his office but as soon as he was gone, the director quickly turned the news on and opened his email. The same news clip Tony had watched earlier that morning was playing on the TV but there were no emails from SEAL Team 5's CO. Vance wasn't surprised. He knew just from watching the news report that things were chaotic over there. The last thing on the CO's mind would've been contacting Vance but he'd been hopeful. He was stuck playing the same waiting game everyone else.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 **One Week Later…**

After six days, five unsuccessful extraction attempts, six helicopters being shot down and eight Marines losing their life in an attempt to get the SEALs out of the heavily populated enemy territory, things were looking bleak. The SEALs food was long gone and they barely had enough water to keep them alive. They usually carried enough food and water to sustain them for at least a week but with the HAHO jump and long hike, they'd all ditched any unnecessary extra weight.

They'd also picked up four extra bodies. Four of the Marines had survived helicopter crashes and thankfully Skip and Spence had gotten to them before al-Qaeda. Now they were all stuck thirty miles inside enemy territory, spending their days evading the groups of terrorists that were searching for them and their nights watching helicopters get shot of the sky.

Stress had replaced the excitement of their successful mission and the playful fun was long gone. They had very little energy and often times it was a fight just to stay awake. It was getting harder and harder to move from place to place but too dangerous to stay put for too long. The situation was growing more and more desperate by the day. It was time to reevaluate their rescue attempts.

"How much knee grease do your men have?" command asked Skip. They were talking in code every chance they got, suspecting the enemy was listening. Knee grease was an inside joke, the result of Xander running his mouth during a training exercise. He'd decided since elbow grease referred to manual labor with your arms and hands that knee grease meant manual labor using your legs and with all the running and marching they did, SEALs used a lot of knee grease.

"Not much I'm afraid," Skip reported. If they had food and water they could've make the thirty mile trek to the border in three nights but they were all too weak.

"Stand by."

Thirty eight year old Joseph Ramsey turned and looked at the other faces in the room. He'd been SEAL Team 5's CO for a little over a year. This wasn't the first time he'd had to get his men out from behind enemy lines but it was the trickiest. Usually his SEALs were more mobile but every time he talked to Skip, the team leader sounded weaker and weaker.

"I know we discussed it before but I'm back to deploying the battle buggies," one of the men said.

Ramsey sighed and rubbed his hand over his face. They'd discussed the battle buggies after the third chopper had been shot down but the vehicles had very little protection and the terrorists would surely hear them coming. On the other hand the vehicles were incredibly light and could easily fly over any terrain at speeds exceeding one hundred miles an hour. The machine gun mounted to the top of the dune buggy looking vehicle may be all the protection they needed. The soldiers being sent on the rescue op and the stranded men had helmets and bullet proof 'plates' for added protection.

"How many do we send?" Ramsey asked.

"Well, technically we could cram all ten men into two buggies," one of the men in the room said, "but I think we should send three, just in case something happens."

"Three buggies, two soldiers on each, one to operate the gun, one to drive," Ramsey summarized. "Does anybody have any questions?" The men in the room all shook their heads no. "Let's vote."

The decision to send the battle buggies in to rescue the stranded soldiers was unanimous. Ramsey called Skip back and used code to tell his team leader where to be and when to be there then the men gathered at the command post set about selecting the six Marines who would carry out the feat. It was risky and a high stress op after losing so many choppers and Marines but the soldiers didn't know how to give up.

After the men had been chosen, briefed and accepted the mission they were sent to get some sleep before nightfall while command went over the plan one more time. Once they were sure they'd planned for every possible contingency and were sending the troops along the safest route, they decided there was nothing more they could do except wait.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony flopped down on his couch, beer in one hand, TV remote in the other after a long, boring day at work. He flipped the TV on and immediately turned to ZNN, curious about any developments on the news story he'd heard almost a week ago. Information was trickling in but it was obvious whatever was going on was top secret considering no one had leaked anything to the news media. That only made Tony even more suspicious about Gibbs' involvement. The man never went off grid for that long without at least calling to check in. Tony's gut was still turning too.

After the national weather map had run across the screen they went live to a reporter in Afghanistan. "Last week we brought you news of explosions in northern Pakistan. Details have been few but tonight a source at the Pentagon has confirmed that there are at least ten American soldiers trapped behind enemy lines."

"What?" Tony asked out loud. "No! Shut up, lady!" He was suddenly sitting at full attention on the couch, his eyes wide and glued to the screen.

"Our source wouldn't confirm or deny it but it's suspected these are the men who killed Omar Nadhir last week."

"Oh my gosh, what are you saying?" Tony asked angrily. "Don't you know terrorists watch TV too, you fool?! Why don't you give them a map to where our guys are hiding out?"

"As we know, Nadhir was killed in the hills just west of Mingora, Pakistan," the reporter continued as a map with a big red X popped up on the screen, "and the explosions were reported only miles from the location of his death."

"Aahhhh!" Tony screamed. "This is so not good. You're fired, lady! Ugh!"

"All attempts to rescue these men have failed," the woman on TV concluded.

Tony angrily punched the power button on his remote control and threw it against the wall—hard. He couldn't have been angrier at the media for putting American troops in jeopardy like that and he couldn't have been more fearful that Gibbs was one of those ten Americans. Tony knew that regardless of whether or not they were the team who'd taken out Nadhir, the news had reported it and al-Qaeda would be looking for payback, facts be damned.

When his leg started bouncing he stood and started pacing around his living room. He hadn't told anyone except for Vance about his suspicions that Gibbs was in Pakistan so he couldn't talk to anyone about it. He really didn't want to worry the team. He needed them focused. Usually when something was upsetting him this much he headed over to Gibbs' house for some bourbon, quiet company and a little Gibbsian wisdom but it wouldn't be the same without Gibbs there.

"Damn it!" he yelled, both hands balled into fists at his sides. He wished he knew more. What was happening to get these guys back? What was the likelihood that the US military would find them before al-Qaeda? Was Gibbs even involved in this whole mess? Who was the source at the Pentagon that had given the ZNN reporter classified information? How could he get Abby to kill said source without alerting her to the peril Gibbs may or may not be in?

After a little more pacing, his anger turned inward. He'd been living a lie for a decade—lying to all those girls he'd hooked up with, lying to his coworkers, lying to Gibbs and most importantly lying to himself. He liked Gibbs. It had started out as an attraction to a quiet, bad boy type. There was something alluring about being in Gibbs' presence. It had turned into a need for the man's attention and affirmation and slowly grown into wanting the man's love.

Tony had denied it, of course. He wasn't gay. He'd never been interested in a man before. Gibbs was more like a… a… a father… the father Tony had always wished he'd had. That lie didn't last very long. There was nothing father/son about Tony's thoughts towards Gibbs.

What if Gibbs was in Pakistan? What if he didn't make it out alive? What if Tony never got a chance to go after the only person he'd ever truly loved? Love. There was that four letter word, the scary one. It didn't matter anymore. Tony had been driving himself crazy with what-ifs all week. It no longer mattered if Gibbs found he was gay. Was he gay? It didn't even matter if Gibbs didn't love him back. He had to make his feelings known before it was too late.


	3. A Bad Situation

For the second time since Gibbs' absence Leon Vance opened the door to his office and found Tony sitting at the conference table. The director sighed his displeasure as he put his briefcase down and scanned the notes on his desk.

"I see we're making a habit of this," Leon said.

"I'm going to Pakistan," Tony said firmly. "I have more vacation time than I can count. If you don't wanna let me use that then I quit."

That caused Leon to look sharply at Tony. "You really have picked up Gibbs' bad habits. What if Gibbs isn't there?"

"He is there," Tony said, hoping Vance would correct him if need be. "I can feel it in my gut."

"You watch the news last night?" Leon asked.

"I did."

"Any theories?"

"That ZNN reporter should be fired and thrown in jail for treason," Tony said. "So should her source."

"She's being brought back to the US this morning," Leon said. "I doubt you'll see her face on TV again. The Pentagon started an investigation into who the source is."

Tony softened his tone and let some of the anger leave his body. "Is Gibbs one the stranded Americans?" he asked quietly.

Vance pushed the button that turned his office into a SCIF then joined Tony at the table. "Yes."

"Is he alive? Is he okay?"

"Last I heard," Leon answered with a nod, "but things are looking grim. They've lost several aircraft and eight Marines trying to get them out."

"I'm surprised the US hasn't given up on them; decided not to risk anymore life," Tony said, cringing at the thought.

"We don't leave our people behind," Leon replied. "We'll use any means necessary to get them back."

"I need to go there," Tony said. "I need to be closer. I need… I don't know… _something_ ," he said desperately.

"And if I say no?"

"Then I'll find my own way," Tony answered firmly.

Vance looked over at Tony with just the hint of a smile visible. Yes, Tony was a chip off the old block… Gibbs' block. "I'll see what I can do."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Three battle buggies raced over the uneven landscape in northern Pakistan in the dark of night. Short, rapid bursts of gunfire rang out whenever the enemy showed themselves but the drivers didn't even slow down. It took luck to hit a target moving at speeds hovering close to eighty miles an hour and the soldiers on board had bullet proof plates and helmets protecting most of their body.

Sergeant Hunter was at the front of the group. He'd been stationed near Kabul, Afghanistan for eight months and knew it and the surrounding areas well. He was also proficient in pushing the battle buggies to their maximum capabilities while maintaining the safety of everyone on board.

Hunter reported back to the command post when they were five minutes out and the command post passed the information along to Skip who got his men ready. They were nearly wiped out after crossing through a river with a fast moving current.

"X-Man! G-Man! Willy! On your feet!" Spence ordered with as much enthusiasm as he could manage. The lack of food and water was having the biggest effect on the three of them, although Gibbs had been teased profusely that it was the lack of coffee that was draining him.

Bates and one of the Marines helped Willy to his feet while Spence helped Xander up and Skip helped Gibbs. The other three Marines dragged along behind them. Any onlookers wouldn't have been able to tell who was dragging whom or how any of them were managing to stay upright.

They could hear the ATVs off in the distance but unlike that first night when the sound of the chopper sent adrenaline coursing through their veins, they didn't let themselves get excited. Instead they prepared to see more fireballs going up. Thankfully that never happened.

Hunter pulled up and skidded to a halt a couple feet from the worn down group and the two buggies following him did the same. The gunners stood guard at the machine guns while the stronger helped the weaker pile into the vehicles.

"We're halfway there," Hunter reported back. That was the predetermined code to let home base know when they were turning around and heading home but was vague enough that the enemy wouldn't be able to figure out which halfway point they were at.

With all the extra weight, the trip back was slower. Even though they took a slightly different route, there were more bursts of machine gun fire than there had been on the trip there. Al-Qaeda was obviously making their way to the area where the Americans had been spotted.

Gibbs was nearly passed out until he felt a sharp, burning pain in his side. He cried out and grabbed his side but the noise from the buggies and machine guns drowned him out. With the world around him spinning he dropped his head back against the aluminum frame of the vehicle, closed his eyes and just focused on making it to safety. He felt Xander's head fall back against his leg but didn't have the energy to even open his eyes and look at him.

Thirty minutes after picking up their passengers, the three ATVs had made it safely across the border into Afghanistan. Hunter, who was still leading the pack, parked by the military vehicles at their predetermined meeting place and the other two pulled in after them.

"Let's get you guys some water," Hunter said as he pulled his goggles up onto his helmet.

"I think I'm hit," Xander said weakly, holding his side.

Skip was at his side in a second. "Call for a medivac," he said when he saw the blood seeping through Xander's fingers. "Let's get you moved so Gibbs can stretch his legs." Xander had been propped up against Gibbs for the journey back. It had been a tight fit to get everyone on the three smaller vehicles.

"Gibbs?" Skip asked. He looked up and realized Gibbs' eyes were closed and he hadn't moved since they'd stopped. "Shit! Bates, I need a medic! Hang tight, Xander."

Skip's fingers found the pulse point on Gibbs' neck and his heart dropped when could barely feel it. Hunter and one of the Marines got Xander out of the buggy and laid out on the ground while two of the other Marines did the same for Gibbs. A quick inspection revealed that both Gibbs and Xander had been shot. The bullets had somehow managed to get between the bullet proof plates they were wearing to protect their midsections.

By the time the medivac arrived, Bates had IVs started on both men and their upper bodies had been stripped bare. There were no exit wounds and not many signs of damage but it was impossible to tell what their insides looked like. Gibbs was still unconscious and Xander was fading fast.

The soldiers got their men loaded up then watched the chopper disappear into the night sky.

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The grim condition of his patient didn't deter Colonel Xavier Marks in the least. He'd long ago learned not to judge life or death solely on the injuries his patients came in with. He'd seen troops come in with a single gunshot wound that appeared to be nothing too serious end up dead and other troops come in covered in so much blood they were unidentifiable end up living. What mattered most was the patients will to live and what was going on inside their bodies.

"What does the bullet trajectory tell you?" Marks asked Dr. Trang, one of their newest arrivals. He liked to test his people and make sure they knew their stuff before letting them go off on their own.

"The bullet must've deflected off something," Trang answered confidently. "It came in at an upward angle with less speed than it would've been fired out of the gun."

"Good for us or bad for us?" Marks asked as they worked on Gibbs.

"Good," Trang answered. "If the round would've torn through his body at full force, it would've taken half his guts with it."

Marks nodded at the correct answer. "He's still gonna lose part of his liver."

"If you're gonna lose part of an organ, your liver's not a bad one to lose considering it grows back," Trang said.

"Where do we go from here?" Marks asked.

"Continue rehydrating him," Trang answered. "We need to give him antibiotics to prevent any infections. We need to get his fever down and give him something for the pain."

"Good," Marks replied, "but what are we missing?"

Trang went over the checklist mentally. They were dealing with the gunshot wound. Their patient had a badly bruised kidney from a bullet that had clipped him in the back but hadn't penetrated thanks to the armor he'd been wearing but only time would heal that. He'd mentioned antibiotics to prevent an infection and fever reducers. "Uh, I don't know, Doctor." Maybe Colonel Marks was just trying to trip him up.

"Nurse?" Marks asked, wondering if she knew. He knew his nurses paid attention and after a little while in the field they started picking up on things. Although he didn't let them overstep with patient care, he liked to give them an opportunity to show off a bit.

"Catheter," Chao answered.

"Catheter!" Trang groaned. "I knew that."

"Why does he need a catheter, Dr. Trang?" Marks asked. A bit of reinforcement wouldn't hurt since Trang had left it out.

"It's standard with major surgeries and we're pumping him full of fluids that he'll need a way to expel," Trang answered. "That and we don't know when he'll wake up."

Marks nodded as he put the last few stitches in. "I expect we won't have this oversight in the future."

"Correct, Sir," Trang answered, still scolding himself for his mistake.

"You two finish up in here," Marks instructed. "I need to head over to the airfield."

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Tony wasn't sure if he should be relieved that he was being taken straight to Gibbs or worried that the plane he was traveling on had been rerouted to the combat hospital at Kandahar Airfield. The whole hospital thing had him worried. Gibbs didn't do hospitals. In all the time Tony had known him, Gibbs had only gone to the hospital when he had a bullet hole in him and when he'd been blown up. Of course anyone would need a hospital after spending seven days stranded behind enemy lines. Maybe it was just a formality.

He rolled his head back and forth against the wall of the plane and moaned. His stomach felt questionable but he wasn't sure if that was from the turbulence or his nerves. What on earth was he doing on an airplane headed for Afghanistan? Gibbs didn't even know he was coming. How was he going to react? The whole 'I can't live without Gibbs so I'm gonna get on a plane and go find him' thing seemed like a much better idea in DC. Now that he was two hours away from seeing the guy, he was starting to wonder if this was such a good idea.

"What're you doing, Anthony?" he asked himself.

Despite the second thoughts he was having, there was no turning back. It wouldn't be long before he'd be face to face with his boss who would no doubt be expecting an explanation. Tony just wished he had one to give.

After a brutal thirteen hour plane ride Tony was a mess. He hadn't slept a wink because he'd been too busy running through every worst case scenario possible about Gibbs' condition, going over all the ways his visit could end badly and talking himself into and out of just being honest with Gibbs about his feelings. He was exhausted yet wide awake and functioning on no sleep in the past twenty four hours. He stepped off the dark plane and was immediately greeted by a blinding sunset.

"Agent DiNozzo?"

"That's me," Tony said, making out a nearly bald, nicely tanned man standing between him and the sun.

"Colonel Marks," the man said as he shook Tony's hand. "Welcome to our little piece of heaven."

"Doesn't look like heaven," Tony grumbled. "Are you a doctor?"

"I am."

"Is Agent Gibbs here? Do you know if he's okay?"

"He is and I do," Marks answered.

Tony narrowed his eyes at the series of two word answers. He was in no mood to play this game. "Well are you gonna tell me?"

"I am," Marks said, goading him just a bit more. "Agent Gibbs is severely dehydrated. He was brought in with a gunshot wound to his right side. The bullet entered just above his hip bone and embedded itself in his liver. We did surgery and got the bullet out but we had to take part of his liver as well."

"Is your liver the one that grows back?" Tony interrupted.

"Yes," Marks answered.

"What else?"

"We gave him a unit of blood, we rehydrating him and pumping antibiotics into him to keep him from going septic on us. He's got a severe fever from the dehydration and he's very weak but I'm hopeful he'll make a full recovery. It's not going to happen overnight though."

"Is he awake?"

"Not yet," Marks said. "The anesthesia from the surgery's wearing off but he's on pain killers which will make him drowsy."

"When will he wake up?"

"Could be anytime," Marks answered, "or he could slip into a coma and be out for awhile."

"Damn," Tony said. "Can I see him, please?"

"Of course," Marks answered as he parked the Army Jeep near the hospital.

Tony cringed as they made their way through the halls of the small hospital. He was definitely not in DC anymore. The accommodations were archaic. Most of the interior walls were nothing more than curtains and Tony was hoping the exterior walls were strong enough to protect them from the war raging nearby.

"It's not as bad as it looks," Marks said. "Agent Gibbs is right in here. If you have any questions let one of us know. The nurses will be in and out periodically to check on him."

"Thank you."

Tony pulled back the small curtain and his heart sank. On the plane he'd prepared himself to find Gibbs alert and itching to get out of the hospital, not unconscious, all laid out in a hospital bed. A few hesitant steps brought him to Gibbs' bedside. He'd never seen the man look so weak. His eyes were sunken in, his skin looked shriveled and dry and his lips looked painfully chapped. There was an IV in each arm, replenishing his fluids and pumping massive amounts of antibiotics into him.

"You can talk to him," Nurse Chao said, unintentionally startling Tony with her sudden presence. "He can probably hear you."

"Is he in pain?" Tony asked, looking back down at his boss.

"It's kind of hard to tell until he wakes up and can tell us," Chao answered, "but I would suspect there's a little discomfort. We're giving him pain meds to make him comfortable."

"Is there anything I can do to help him? To make him feel better?" Tony couldn't believe how helpless he felt. He hated it.

"There's a basin with a washcloth and some cool water in it on the table beside his bed," the nurse replied. "You can dab his forehead with the cloth. That might help with his fever a little. There's also a tube of chapstick there. Be very gentle. Try not to rip at the skin peeling off."

"I can do that," Tony said, immediately wringing out the washcloth. "Is there any way to get him to wake up faster? Maybe we could put a little coffee in his IV?"

"Afraid not," the nurse said with a smile. "Coffee's a diuretic. It'll dehydrate him more."

"Shh, don't let him hear you say that. He'll never wake up!" Tony had always used laughter and jokes to deal with things. Despite being scared to death looking down at his boss, at the man he… he loved… he couldn't help trying to lighten the mood.

"There really isn't anything we can do to wake him sooner," Chao said. "Give him time to get rehydrated and get a little stronger and I suspect he'll start coming around. Anymore questions before I go?"

"Not right now," Tony said, not taking his eyes off Gibbs.

"You just pull one of us aside if you have more," she said before smiling and heading off to her next patient.

Tony folded the washcloth over a couple times then laid it across Gibbs' forehead before picking up the tube of chapstick. It felt kind of weird to be putting the stuff on Gibbs' lips, especially considering the fact that his boss rarely let Tony touch him without smacking his hand away or glaring at him. He just hoped Gibbs wouldn't mind this.

"Just gonna put some chapstick on your lips, Boss," he said before he started. Tony quickly found it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. Gibbs wasn't working with him and it was hard not get the dry skin stuck to the tube and end up pulling it off. He finally globbed a little bit on his fingers and gently applied it to Gibbs' lips. He caked a generous amount on and spread it out before putting the cap back on the tube and returning it to the nightstand along with the washcloth.

He pulled the chair in the room closer to Gibbs' bed and sat down. "The nurse says I should talk to you but to be honest, I'm not really sure what to say." Tony laughed at himself. He was rarely at a loss for words. "Does that shock you enough to wake you up?" he asked looking hopefully at his boss. There was no response.

He caught sight of the chain around Gibbs' neck that disappeared beneath sheet. He pulled the sheet down far enough to see two dog tags with black silencers lying on top of the hospital gown Gibbs was wearing.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here," he continued as he recovered Gibbs. "I don't really have an answer. At least not one I'm willing to admit yet." Tony reached out and rested his hand on Gibbs' hand. Maybe the physical reassurance would help? He hoped so because it helped him. "Boss, I know you like to slip into comas and disappear for days but please don't."

Gibbs' hand twitched and Tony jerked his hand away in surprise.

"Gibbs?"

When there was no response, Tony once again rested his hand on top of Gibbs'.

"Agent DiNozzo, we've got a room ready for you," Colonel Marks said. "I can take you if you're ready."

"I'm gonna stay here," Tony said, hoping the doctor wouldn't object.

"Not very comfortable."

"Doesn't matter. I've slept in all kinds of places."

"Alright," Marks said. "If you change your mind go find Will. He's the head of the nurses. He's in charge tonight. He'll know where to send you."

"Thank you," Tony said.

Colonel Marks nodded before leaving. It wasn't long before he returned with a padded desk chair and a blanket. Tony thanked him and traded the metal folding chair for the desk then settled in next to Gibbs again. He was exhausted after the long flight. It had been a long two weeks with Gibbs gone. He laid his arm on the bed, once again covering Gibbs' hand with his own then rested his head in the crook of his elbow and drifted away without even realizing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't resist doing a crossover with Combat Hospital. The Combat Hospital and hospital staff belong to show creators Jinder Oujla-Chalmers, Daniel Petrie, Jr. and Douglas Steinberg.


	4. A Step in the Right Direction

Gibbs slowly drifted back to consciousness early the next morning. He couldn't believe how bad he felt. Part of him wondered if he was still alive. There was no way he could feel that bad and still be alive. A soft whimper escaped his mouth as he licked his dry lips. He opened his eyes just enough to be able to see where he was but couldn't figure it out based on what he saw. Tony was the only familiar thing he could find. He moved his hand out from under Tony's and rested it on Tony's head, waking him in the process.

"Boss?"

"Where'm I?" Gibbs mumbled, trying not to move too much. He was dizzy and nauseated and felt like he was on the verge of throwing up even though his stomach was empty.

"Hospital. Well, actually you're in a field hospital thingy," Tony said. "It's kinda like M.A.S.H. only a step up 'cause M.A.S.H. was set during the Korean War and we've made advancements in—"

"Tony," Gibbs interrupted.

"Sorry. How do you feel?"

"Like'm dead."

Tony cringed at the words. Gibbs never admitted when he was hurting. "Uh, I'm glad you're not dead. What hurts?"

"Everything," Gibbs answered. His words were all coming out in short, mumbled grunts. "Head. Back. Side."

"I'll go get the nurse. Don't try to move."

"No need," Marks said as he entered the room with a smile. "Nice to see you've joined us this morning, Agent Gibbs. How are we feeling?"

"He hurts," Tony answered for Gibbs. "He said he feels like he's dead."

If Gibbs had had the strength, he would've head slapped Tony but he couldn't even find the energy to scold his agent. "I've a headache. Back's on fire. Side hurts. Stomach doesn't feel right. I'm dizzy."

"The dizziness, your headache and your stomachache are from the dehydration," Marks explained as he started checking his patient out. "Your side hurts because you got shot. We did surgery and removed the bullet along with part of your liver. Don't worry, it'll grow back. Your back hurts because of another bullet. The bullet proof plate you were wearing stopped it from penetrating but you do have a nasty bruise right over your kidney."

"Xander?" Gibbs asked.

"Who's Xander?" Tony asked, feeling a surprising surge of jealousy.

"Xander's down the hall," Marks said. "He's okay. He took a bullet in the ass."

Gibbs smiled as best as he could. He couldn't wait to tease Xander about that one.

"I'm assuming if you remember Xander, you remember what happened?"

"Classified," Gibbs answered, "but yeah, I remember."

"Alright, we're rehydrating you and giving you antibiotics through the IVs," Marks said. "We're giving you morphine to help with the pain."

"I gotta hit the head, Doc."

"You've got a catheter in for that," Marks said. "The bruised kidney's gonna make peeing not very much fun but try to relax and let it happen."

Gibbs' eyes slipped closed and his breathing evened out as he drifted back to sleep while in the middle of the conversation.

Tony frowned and looked at the colonel. "Is that normal?"

"He's very weak," Marks answered. "He'll sleep a lot over the next couple days."

"It's weird 'cause at home he never sleeps," Tony said. "When he gets tired he just refills his coffee."

"The more sleep he can get here, the better," Marks said. "If you need anything I'll be around. If you're hungry head back out front and turn right. There're a few places to grab some grub. The offer for the room is still on the table too."

"Thanks."

"Mm-hmm."

It was an hour and a half before Gibbs opened his eyes again. Tony was still sitting at his bedside, this time shoving the last little bit of a big, fat, juicy hotdog in his mouth. The site made Gibbs' stomach turn.

"Hey, Boss, feelin' any better?" Tony asked.

Gibbs closed his eyes and let the wave of nausea pass before answering. "Yeah," he lied. Truth be told he was feeling just as crappy but he wanted to get out of there and he knew they wouldn't let him leave unless he was feeling better.

"Your fever finally dropped below 100°," Tony said, glancing over at the monitor. "Blood pressure's getting closer to the normal range too." One of the nurses had explained what some of the numbers on the monitor meant.

"How did you get here, Tony?"

"On a plane."

"Anthony."

"Right, uh, I may have threatened to quit if Vance didn't let me use some of my vacation time to come," Tony answered. "He pulled some strings and got me here through more official channels."

Gibbs let the corner of his mouth curl into a slight smile. "Bet Vance liked that."

"He accused me of picking up your bad habits," Tony said with a laugh.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"I figured out where you were about a week ago and when ZNN reported how bad things were getting I decided I had to come. I was actually on my way to Kabul when the plane got rerouted here."

That answered the easy questions. Gibbs wondered if Tony would answer a harder one honestly. "Why are you here?"

"Because you need me," Tony said, hoping his charming smile would get him out of any further explanation.

"You didn't even know I was hurt when you boarded the plane in the US."

"Right, there is that," Tony said. Should he tell Gibbs the truth? The man was too weak to kill him. He'd likely pass out again at any given moment and Tony could disappear before he woke if things went bad. "I came because I was afraid you were gonna die before I had a chance to tell you how much you mean to me."

"How much I mean to you?"

Tony looked down at Gibbs' weak body and shook his head. "Yeah," he whispered. "You mean everything to me, Boss. I don't know when or how it happened but I fell in love with you and it doesn't matter if you can't love me back because you already saved my life when you rescued me from Baltimore. You've given me stability and a place to call home and as stupid as it sounds, I've never had that before."

Gibbs opened his mouth to say something but before he could, his eyes closed and he was once again asleep.

Tony's heart sank as he listened to the man's breathing even out and watched him drift back to dreamland. "Well that's kinda rude, falling asleep in the middle of our conversation," he said. "Now I don't know if I should change my appearance and run away or stick around."

"In my experience, running away from your problems rarely works," Marks said as he entered. "They usually find you no matter where you hide."

"Good point," Tony said. "It's pretty much impossible to hide from Gibbs anyways."

"Why are we hiding from Gibbs?"

"I dunno."

"It's personal," Marks concluded.

Tony nodded then smiled when he realized the doctor wasn't going to pry.

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Tony spent most of the long day at the hospital keeping watch over Gibbs. He only left for bathroom breaks, food and a quick shower. Despite having very little to do and no one to talk to, he never got bored. He had one-sided conversations with Gibbs, dabbed his forehead with the cool, damp cloth to keep his fever down and watched the numbers on the monitor meticulously to make sure they hovered within or close to the normal range.

Gibbs woke again briefly when Marks returned for the last time that evening to check his vitals and his injuries. He was down to one IV delivering the meds and fluids his body needed. His color was returning to normal and he looked a lot better than he had when Tony arrived. Marks had been right about Gibbs sleeping most of the day but Tony didn't mind, especially if it meant Gibbs' body was healing.

After saying goodnight to the doctor, Tony curled up in the desk chair with the blanket wrapped around him and rested his head on the edge of Gibbs' bed. It was nice to be able to sleep so close to the man although Tony definitely wished it was under different circumstances. He reached out and rested his hand on top of Gibbs' then closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

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Colonel Marks arrived bright and early the next morning. Apparently even in field hospitals the patients had to deal with doctors and nurses at all hours of the day. At least they hadn't been disturbed during the night. Gibbs had awakened a few times when the discomfort got too much which had in turn woken Tony up but none of the staff had bothered them.

The doctor put the brown paper bag he'd brought with him on the bedside table and did a quick check of Gibbs' vitals, the urine in the collection bag and his incision. He was pleased with the progress his patient had made.

"How's your pain level?" Marks asked as he scribbled away on Gibbs' chart.

"'bout a six," Gibbs answered.

"That's not too bad," Marks said. "How's the nausea and dizziness?"

"Both are better," Gibbs said.

"What's in the bag?" Tony asked curiously.

"A challenge that comes with a reward," Marks replied. He opened the bag and pulled out a bottle of water, a sleeve of saltine crackers and an apple. "I need you to try to eat something, Agent Gibbs. All these things will be easy on your stomach but go slow."

"Not real hungry, Doc."

"Your body's lying to you," Marks said with a smile. "I'm not trying to threaten or intimidate you, but I'll have to insert a feeding tube if you can't get any of this stuff down. If you do, however, we'll see about getting that catheter out and getting you moving around again. You need strength to do that though."

Gibbs looked at the food and willed himself to be hungry. It would be great to get the catheter out and be able to get up. "Got any peanut butter?"

"I'm sure I can find a jar around here somewhere," Marks replied with a smile.

By lunchtime Gibbs had managed to get the entire apple, a few crackers, a spoonful of the peanut butter and almost the whole bottle of water down and keep it down. Tony went and found Colonel Marks who was once again pleased with Gibbs' progress.

"Still feeling okay?" Marks asked. "Feel like you're gonna be able to keep it down?"

"Yeah," Gibbs answered with a nod of his head. "Guess I was hungrier than I thought I was."

"You probably haven't eaten in what, eight, nine days?"

"I don't even know how long we were out there, Doc," Gibbs replied. "After a while the days start running together."

"You've done your part. Let's see about getting the catheter out."

"I'm gonna go grab some lunch," Tony said, figuring Gibbs would want a little privacy.

"Can he bring me back some coffee, Doc?" Gibbs asked.

"Not yet," Marks answered. "Coffee will undo all this progress we're making."

"When?"

"When your urine is a very pale yellow, I'll let you have some coffee," Marks answered.

"Maybe it another bottle of water, Tony," Gibbs said.

"You got it."

"Pull you legs up just enough your feet can sit flat on the bed and let your knees fall open," Marks instructed as he lifted the sheet.

Gibbs tried not to fidget while Marks got everything set up. "When can I get outta here?"

"Let's get moving around and eating regulars meals, get your pain under control and then we'll talk about getting you out of here," Marks replied. "You're gonna feel a little pulling. Take a deep breath and let it out slowly."

Gibbs did as instructed. He fisted his hands into the sheets to keep from whining. Despite the morphine, everything hurt.

"I know this is unpleasant," Marks said as he started pulling the tube out. "Just be glad you weren't awake when we put it in. It's out. Let's wipe you up and then we'll cover you up. You alright?"

"Yeah," Gibbs answered, closing his eyes and willing the discomfort away.

"That bruised kidney's going to make it uncomfortable to take a leak for several days," Marks said while he got everything cleaned up. "I'll leave a urinal beside your bed. You can do it yourself, Tony can help you, holler for me and I'll help you or any one of the nurses can help you."

"And I can get out of bed now?"

"Yes but take it easy. There's no need to do too much at once. That'll only make you start feeling worse again and it won't get you out of here any sooner."

"Planning your escape already?" Tony asked. He handed Gibbs a bottle of water before returning to his seat next to the man's bed.

"Not hardly," Gibbs answered. He really wanted to get up and walk around but that would have to wait until later because he was feeling tired again.

"I'll leave you two alone," Marks said. "If you need anything, holler."

Tony sat back down and started nibbling on the sandwich he'd bought. He and Gibbs still hadn't talked about his confession the prior day. Part of him wondered if Gibbs even remembered any of it. He wasn't in any hurry to bring it up again but he also felt like he was in limbo waiting for a reply. Did Gibbs remember? Was he thinking it over? Was he waiting until they got home so he could transfer him? Fire him? Was he just going to pretend it never happened?

"What's on your mind?" Gibbs asked from behind closed eyelids.

"Nothin'," Tony lied. "Just busy chewing."

"Liar," Gibbs said. "You're wondering if I remember what you told me earlier."

Tony swallowed hard, nearly choking on the bite of food in his mouth. That answered one question. Gibbs definitely remembered.

"Tony, it's been a helluva two weeks," Gibbs said, his eyes still closed and his body relaxed. "I appreciate you coming out here but—"

"But you're not gay," Tony interrupted. "It's okay. I understand. I just, I had to tell you."

"You're not very good at finishing my sentences," Gibbs said opening his eyes and looking over at Tony. "I was gonna say I need time. Everything hurts, my thoughts are a jumbled up mess, I can't even stay awake for longer than a couple hours at a time."

"I get it," Tony said, his eyes on his sandwich even though he didn't feel very hungry anymore. He assumed that was just Gibbs' way of letting him down easy which was unexpected but nice.

The forlorn look on Tony's face ripped at Gibbs' heart but he knew he wasn't in any state to make a commitment that big. Did he like Tony? Yes, but it wasn't that simple. They worked together which would complicate things and that was a friendship Gibbs didn't want to lose if things ended badly. On top of that, it was a decision he never thought he'd have to make. Tony had never showed any interest in him in that way. "Think I'm gonna take a nap. You stickin' around?"

"I don't know," Tony said. "I don't wanna bother you."

Gibbs closed his eyes and smiled. "It's no bother, Tony." He let out a big yawn just before drifting off to sleep, hoping Tony would still be around when he woke.


	5. Slowly but Surely

Abby sat at Tony's desk and looked back and forth between Tim, Ziva and Dorneget. She was not a happy camper. First Gibbs had disappeared and now Tony was gone as well and neither had given any sort of explanation. 'Be back soon' and a peck on the cheek didn't tell her anything. She'd tried calling both men but their phones went straight to voicemail. Tim and Ziva were just as clueless and she was and Director Vance wasn't giving anything away except to say Dorneget would be helping them with cold cases for awhile.

Being left in the dark was making the usually giddy Goth more than a little anxious.

"Try to call them again, Timmy," she pleaded.

"Abby, they'll call us when they can," Tim said.

"Please?" she begged.

"I already tried earlier," Tim said.

"One more time." She showed off her best pouty face.

"One more time," Tim said, "then maybe you can help us."

"Deal."

Tim dialed Tony's number and it went right to voicemail then repeated the process and got the same result with Gibbs' number. "Sorry," he said, laying his phone on his desk.

"Do you think they're okay?" she asked.

"I'm sure they're fine," Tim said. "Will you look over this analysis and see if anything looks hinky?"

Abby moped over to Tim's desk and snatched the piece of paper from him. "Okay, I'm working."

"Thank you."

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_"Tony. Tony?"_

Tony wasn't sure if the voice calling his name was a dream or if it was really happening. He was so tired and emotionally drained he didn't want to wake up.

"Tony? Tony, please?" Gibbs rested his hand against Tony's cheek. Tony had fallen asleep with his head resting on the bed again. Apparently he needed some rest just as badly as Gibbs.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked around a yawn, his eyes barely open.

"I need the urinal," Gibbs answered desperately. "Marks said he'd leave one in here."

"Oh!" Tony said jumping to his feet. "Uh, hang on." He fumbled around and found the container mixed in with various other things on the bedside table. "Here you go. Do you want me to step out? Or find help? Or… something?"

"You're fine," Gibbs said, slipping the container beneath the blanket and getting it in place just in time.

Tony could tell how much Gibbs was hurting by the noises he was making; the moaning and groaning followed by a short trickle and more moaning and groaning. His forehead was shining with sweat by the time he was done. At least he was rehydrated enough he could sweat again.

"You alright, Boss?" Tony asked, wishing there was something more he could do.

"Mm-hmm," Gibbs grunted.

Tony sat down again, unsure about what to do or where to look while Gibbs was trying to pee into the urinal.

"I hate to ask but could you do something with this?" Gibbs asked, handing Tony the urinal.

"No problem," Tony said with an easy smile.

He put the lid on the plastic container and set it out of the way then wrung out the washcloth in the basin next to the bed. Gibbs closed his eyes as Tony dabbed at his forehead. He was a little surprised to find he didn't mind the care and attention. Usually it was him taking care of his team but considering the circumstances, he didn't mind the role reversal. He was glad it was Tony though. They'd always had each other sixes.

Just as Tony was returning the cloth to the basin a nurse came in to check on them. She took care of the urinal and recorded Gibbs' vitals then offered a sponge bath which he gladly accepted. He knew he was too weak to stand in the shower but it would be nice to feel clean again.

"Do you want me to leave while you get your bath?" Tony asked when the nurse stepped out to get the supplies she'd need. He really didn't want to leave Gibbs' side but he wasn't sure how much privacy Gibbs wanted.

"You can stay," Gibbs said. "Not many places around here for you to go."

"I could find somewhere," Tony said with a shrug.

"It's okay," Gibbs said.

By the time the nurse returned, Gibbs' eyes were closed again. Tony wasn't sure if he was sleeping or not so he just sat by his bedside and watched him. The nurse removed Gibbs' hospital gown and Tony got his first look at the bandage on Gibbs' side before she covered him with the sheet. It was smaller than he'd expected which for some reason made everything a little less scary. Tony had prepared himself for a huge incision and possibly part of Gibbs' right side to be missing which was admittedly a bit dim-witted but everything was scarier when it was someone you loved lying helpless in a hospital bed.

The nurse started methodically bathing Gibbs; his hair, face and neck before moving down and bathing first one side and then the other, only revealing the parts of his body she was working on. She washed, then dried, then covered him back up before revealing the next part. Tony kept his eyes on Gibbs' face, wanting to say something just to break the awkward silence but not wanting to wake Gibbs if he was sleeping.

After the nurse was finished with Gibbs' front side, Tony helped her roll him over so she could do his back. Gibbs let them do all the work moving him, knowing if he tried to help it would only cause him more pain. He spent the rest of the time he was being bathed making small talk with Tony. When the nurse was done, Tony helped her roll Gibbs once again. She put some lotion on him to help his dry skin then redressed him, covered him and left them alone.

"Who's watching the team?" Gibbs asked once he was resettled. He could tell Tony felt a little awkward after having just watched him take a bath.

"Balboa," Tony answered. "They're working on cold cases. He's there if they need him. Vance said something about putting Dorneget there with 'em too, just to give him a change of pace although I suspect he puts probies with us because he knows they'll be well trained."

"I suspect you're right."

"The price to pay for being number one," Tony replied with playful arrogance.

"Don't let it go to your head, Skippy." Gibbs said with a smile.

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By the morning of day three, Gibbs was starting to feel better and getting a little restless. With an okay from Colonel Marks during his morning rounds, Tony helped Gibbs out of bed and they started slowly making their way around the small hospital.

"Tell me if we're going too fast or too slow," Tony said. One arm was wrapped firmly around Gibbs' waist, holding him upright while Gibbs had an arm draped over Tony's shoulders.

"Feels drafty," Gibbs said. He wasn't sure if it was just because he was wearing a gown or if his backside was actually hanging out.

Tony peeked behind them and smiled. "I'm not sure if you could be qualified as a streaker moving this slow but yeah, your ass is hanging out."

Gibbs decided he owed Tony another head slap but knew if he tried to deliver it, it would not only hurt but he'd likely fall over. Tony managed to get the gown closed and when they made it to the nurse's station they stopped and got a robe.

By the time they made it half way around the very short lap, Gibbs was starting to slow down. Tony slowed with him and patiently helped him through the halls. They paused long enough to use the bathroom before making the rest of the journey back to the room. Once Gibbs was settled in bed, Tony handed him a bottle of water, hoping he'd drink something.

"You alright?" Tony asked. He hated asking Gibbs so much but the man wasn't the type to speak up if he wasn't.

"Just tired," Gibbs replied, "and a little sore."

"I'm sure Marks'll be impressed though," Tony said.

"Anything to get outta here sooner," Gibbs said.

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After a midmorning nap and a couple bites of lunch, Marks poked his head in and informed Gibbs that he had another visitor. Like Gibbs, Xander was getting stronger every day and with that came a great deal of restlessness.

"You awake, G-Man?" Xander asked, poking his head around the curtain.

"Come on in, Xander," Gibbs said with a smile. "Tony, this is Xander. We were out in the field together. Xander, this is Tony. I work with him back in DC."

"Nice to meet you," Xander said, shaking Tony's hand.

"Likewise."

Gibbs and Xander talked briefly about how they were feeling and Xander complained about there not being enough hot nurses around. Gibbs poked fun at him for taking a bullet in the ass which Xander adamantly denied but refused to show which area of his body the bandage was on. When Gibbs mentioned the bullet being divine payback for all the practical jokes the team had endured at Xander's hand, Tony's interest was piqued. Tony and Xander talked at length about pranks they'd played, swapping ideas about great new ways to get their coworkers. Gibbs wasn't sure who he felt sorrier for, his team or Skip's.

"Gibbs and I were talking about playing some poker. Do you wanna play with us?" Tony offered.

"You got cards?" Xander asked.

"Yep," Tony said, already digging them out of his bag. "You still feel up to playing, Gibbs?"

"Mm-hmm," Gibbs hummed. He was getting tired again but was hoping he'd be able to stay awake long enough to play. He hated sleeping so much. Somehow that didn't feel like progress. He just felt lazy.

Xander took more razzing when he had trouble sitting but continued to insist that he'd been shot in the lower back and not the ass. Tony dealt the first hand amidst the laughter and the game started.

Gibbs fell asleep after a few rounds of five card draw leaving Tony and Xander unsupervised. The two plotted as they played then slipped out of the room unnoticed. Colonel Marks found them wandering the halls over an hour later and could tell just by looking at them that they'd been up to something. He sent Xander back to bed but the two just waited until he wasn't looking and slipped back into Gibbs' room to play some more cards.

When Gibbs woke a short time later, Tony and Xander were sitting on either side of his bed playing gin, using the bed as their table.

"Mornin' Sunshine!" Tony said without even thinking. He hoped Xander didn't think that was weird. Hell, he hoped Gibbs didn't think that was weird after his confession a couple days ago. He really needed to get better at thinking before speaking.

"Tony?" Gibbs sighed painfully.

Tony was almost afraid to ask. "Yeah?"

"I gotta hit the head," Gibbs said. "Do you mind—"

"Course not!" Tony interrupted, already clearing the cards from Gibbs' legs.

"I really should head back to my room before the Colonel figures out I'm not there," Xander said. "Thanks for the afternoon of fun."

"Don't be a stranger," Gibbs said.

"See ya, man," Tony said with a devious smile. Xander winked at Tony and waved at Gibbs before leaving.

"I know that look," Gibbs said as Tony helped him stand. "What did you two do?"

"Boss, I'm offended," Tony said, clasping a hand over his heart.

"Uh-huh," Gibbs grunted. "I don't head slap you for a couple days and you're all out of order."

"I do miss the head slaps," Tony said.

"I know." Gibbs wished he had the energy but he knew better than to even try.

Considering how much it hurt to take a leak, Gibbs was not looking forward to relieving his bladder. Maybe the catheter hadn't been so bad after all. Actually, it had. He didn't know which one was worse. Tony helped him make the slow journey down the hall. When they made it to the bathroom, Gibbs took a deep breath and let it out slowly, mentally preparing himself for the pain he knew was coming.

"You alright?" Tony asked.

"I don't know what hurts more," Gibbs confessed, "getting shot or taking a piss."

"That bad?"

"Mm-hmm."

Tony had some clue about how bad it was based on the pained noises Gibbs made every time he peed. Gibbs never admitted pain and never showed weakness so Tony knew those noises meant it was bad.

"Be back in a minute," Gibbs said.

Tony waited patiently, cringing each time Gibbs made a noise. When Gibbs was done they took the long way back to the room where Marks was waiting for them. While Marks checked Gibbs over, Tony headed out to the get them some dinner. Gibbs hadn't eaten much that day and Tony was hoping to change that. He found himself really looking forward to a peaceful evening alone with Gibbs.


	6. Coming and Going

It was four days before SEAL Team 5's Team Leader, Skip Dawson, was deemed well enough to travel to Kandahar to check in on Gibbs and pick Xander up. He boarded one of the helicopters heading out for patrol and shortened an eight hour road trip down to a couple hours on the chopper. He was greeted by Colonel Marks and briefed on Gibbs and Xander's progress as they made the short journey to the hospital.

"I'd ask you which one you wanted to see first but they're all together right now," Marks said. "My hospital hasn't been this lively in a long time."

"Xander has a way of livening a place up," Skip said. He missed his SEAL's playful banter and practical jokes.

"It's not just him," Marks said. "Agent DiNozzo could be his twin brother. We still haven't figured out which one of them switched the hospital gowns and scrubs but the nurses were not happy when they tried to get changed this morning."

"I just hope your hospital's still standing when they leave," Skip said with a laugh as he followed Marks down the hall of the hospital.

"It's nice to see you guys behaving yourselves for a change," Colonel Marks said as he watched Tony deal five cards to Gibbs, Xander and himself.

"Why, Colonel, whatever do you mean?" Xander asked innocently.

"Uh-huh," Marks said, hiding his smirk the best he could. "I brought you guys a visitor."

"Skip! Hey man," Xander greeted with a smile. "How is everybody?"

"We're doing great," Skip said. "Everyone's rehydrated. I think we ate all the food on base," he exaggerated.

"Is that why you're hiding out here?" Gibbs asked.

"Something like that," Skip answered as he shook Gibbs' hand. "How are you guys?"

"Itching to get outta here," Gibbs answered.

"Same," Xander said.

"Are you hoping if you drive the nurses crazy enough, they'll let you go early?" Skip asked. "Marks told me what happened."

"Pfft, we get blamed for everything around here," Tony said.

"Mm-hmm. Maybe because trouble like this didn't happen until you guys showed up," Skip suggested.

"Told ya I had one just like Xander at home," Gibbs said, smiling fondly at Tony.

"That's a good thing, right?" Tony asked hopefully.

"I don't know," Gibbs said. "He got shot in the ass on our last mission."

"It wasn't my ass!" Xander protested. "It was my lower back."

Gibbs looked over at Skip and smiled. "It was his ass."

"I know," Skip said. "Colonel Marks briefed me on the way here."

"You're supposed to be on my side, Skip!" Xander said. "Maybe I'm not happy to see you after all."

"I think you'll be happy," Skip said. "You're coming home with me."

"Really?"

"Yep. We fly to Iraq tomorrow."

"Woohoo! When do we leave?"

"Settle down, X-man. Doc still has to release you and I wanna visit with Agent Gibbs for a little while."

The group spent the next several hours playing poker and blackjack, talking, snacking and enjoying each other's company. Gibbs was feeling better than he had the day before and was happy that he was able to stay awake for longer periods of time. It was nice to have an opportunity to visit with Skip and see Tony and Xander having such a good time together.

The group had lunch together then a chopper came to pick Skip and Xander up. They all said their goodbyes with promises to keep in touch. Tony knew he would miss Xander but he was glad he no longer had to compete with the SEAL for Gibbs' attention. He liked having Gibbs all to himself.

Gibbs had enjoyed the excitement and thrill of deployment; he'd enjoyed meeting the SEALs and getting to know them but was more than happy to return to his life in DC. He told Skip and Xander they could look him up any time. Virginia Beach wasn't very far away from DC and his door was always open. The invitation alone was enough to send a surge of jealousy through Tony.

When Marks came and got Skip and Xander to shuttle them to the airfield, Gibbs and Tony once again found themselves alone.

"You don't have to stay here, Tony," Gibbs said. "This isn't much of a vacation."

"I wanna be here," Tony said.

"Well, I appreciate the company."

"Should I call home and let them know all's well?"

"How much do they know?"

"Nothing," Tony answered. "Vance is the only one I discussed anything with."

"Abby's probably a wreck," Gibbs said. "Maybe you'd better give 'em a call. Tell them we're okay and we'll be home as soon as we can."

"That should at least give them some peace of mind," Tony said. "You gonna take a nap?"

"Probably," Gibbs answered. He was tired after all the excitement that morning and knew he probably wouldn't be able to stay awake for very long but going from sleeping all day to an afternoon nap was progress. "Will you help me get to the bathroom before you go?"

"Sure," Tony said. He helped Gibbs get out of bed and down the hall then waited for him outside the bathroom door.

Once Gibbs was tucked into bed again, Tony headed to the phones outside and got in line. There were only a handful of phones and there was always a line. When it was his turn, he stepped up to the phone and dialed Abby's cell phone number.

"Hello?" she mumbled groggily. It was 4:30 in the morning in Washington DC.

"Hey Abs," Tony greeted.

"Tony! Where have you been? Where are you? Is Gibbs with you? Are you guys okay?"

"Abby, slow down. I am with Gibbs and we're both okay. I promise."

"Where are you guys?"

"I can't tell you," Tony said apologetically.

"Why not? I don't understand."

"I'm sorry, Abby, but all I can tell you is we're okay and we'll be home as soon as we can."

"How soon will that be?"

"If I knew, I'd tell you," Tony replied. "Few days, maybe a week. How's everything going there?"

"Good I guess," Abby sighed. "Tim broke one of the cold cases wide open. He has a meeting with Balboa about it this morning."

"Good," Tony said. "Gibbs'll be proud."

"Can I talk to Gibbs?"

"He's not with me at the moment. I gotta go, Abs. There's a line waiting to use the phone. Make sure you tell the probie and Ziva I called."

"Alright," Abby said. "Come home soon."

"As soon as we can."

Abby hung up her phone and swung her feet over the side of the bed. Despite the early hour there was no way she'd be able to go back to sleep. Besides, whether Tony knew it or not, he'd given her a clue about they were. All she had to do was get to NCIS and trace her last incoming call.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tony decided to take a short walk outside and enjoy some fresh air before returning to Gibbs' bedside. He knew the man was most likely sound asleep so there was no need to rush back. He headed off to a vacant corner of the small base and sat down on the sand overlooking the barren landscape.

What was he doing there? Helping out his boss—his friend—was a noble thing to do but he felt like he was setting himself up for heartbreak. Spending his days caring for Gibbs and nights with his head propped on the man's bed meant a lot more to Tony than it did to Gibbs. What would happen when they returned to the States? When Gibbs didn't need his help anymore?

Tony had always thought he'd take whatever he could get from Gibbs and he'd be happy but now that he had a small taste of what it was like to be more than just Gibbs' senior field agent, he wanted more… he wanted it all. When he came down from the high he was currently on, he would surely crash and burn. The broken heart, even though he was prepared for it, would be nothing like losing Wendy or Jeanne.

He tucked his head between his knees and pulled at his hair in frustration. Maybe it would be better to leave immediately and forget about everything that had happened over the past few days. With each passing moment he was only falling more and more in love with Gibbs. The longer this went on the harder it would be to get over it when he returned to the US. The only problem with that was flights out of Kandahar were few and far between.

"Like you're really gonna leave Gibbs when he _finally_ needs you," he told himself with a laugh. "No, you're gonna stick around and get your heart broken. It's not Gibbs' fault though. Can't make somebody love you, no matter how much you love them."

He sighed and looked down at the watch on his wrist. 5:30. Actually it was 5:30 in Washington DC. He still hadn't set it to local time. He'd been gone for almost an hour and a half. He decided to head back and see if Gibbs was awake yet, maybe pick up some food on the way. Gibbs still hadn't been eating much.

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Gibbs could feel someone playing with his fingers as he woke from his nap and knew it was Tony. Colonel Marks' fingers were a lot dryer and rougher than Tony's. Besides, the doctor only touched him to take his pulse or move his arm around, not play with his fingers. He wrapped his fingers around Tony's and held onto his hand as he opened his eyes and looked over at his agent.

"Sorry," Tony whispered.

"Don't apologize," Gibbs said groggily. He gave Tony's hand a squeeze before releasing it. He realized his dog tags were on the outside of his hospital gown and looked at Tony questioningly.

Tony shrugged but stayed quiet. What was he supposed to say? He had a thing for dog tags? Seeing Gibbs in dog tags turned him on? He liked imagining Gibbs wearing nothing but dog tags? There was nothing to say.

"Hey," Gibbs said, "it's okay."

"Why are you being so un-Gibbs like?" Tony asked. "The old Gibbs always pulled away when I tried to touch him. Now you're like… touching me back."

"The old Gibbs didn't know how you felt," Gibbs said.

This certainly wasn't helping clear up Tony's confusion any. Was Gibbs touching him back because he was being nice? Because he knew he'd be receptive to it? Because he was interested too? Tony still couldn't wrap his head around the last one. "I brought us some dinner," he said. Gibbs' change in demeanor was making his head hurt. It was time to change the conversation.

"Not real hungry," Gibbs said.

"You hardly ate anything yesterday or today," Tony said. "Marks is gonna get after you again when he finds out."

Gibbs rolled his eyes, knowing Tony was right. "What'd ya bring?"

"I got you some chicken noodle soup but I can go get something else if you'd rather or you can have my pizza and I'll eat the soup."

"Soup's fine," Gibbs said. "Thanks."

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"No chance of getting him into a bed, huh?" Marks asked. It was day five of Gibbs' stay and every morning when the doctor made his rounds, Tony's head was propped on the bed next to Gibbs' hip.

"He's stubborn," Gibbs said. "When can I get outta here, Doc?"

"I'm not quite ready to let you go yet," Marks said. "I want you a little more mobile and I'd like to see you eating better."

"This is how I eat all the time," Gibbs protested.

"You're body's weak. It needs fuel." He pulled Gibbs' hospital gown around enough to reveal the bandage on his abdomen. "You should be able to take a shower today as long as your incision's healing up properly."

"A shower would be nice," Gibbs said as Marks pulled the bandage off.

"I know you're getting frustrated," Colonel Marks said, "but that's actually a good sign. Means you're feeling better and ready to start moving around and getting back to your normal life. We just need to give your body a chance to catch up with your mind. That and you've got a long plane ride to get home. The turbulence and being jerked around on takeoffs and landings isn't going to be very much fun."

"Gibbs has never been very good at being patient," Tony said, his head still resting on the bed and his eyes still closed.

"Hey, enough outta you," Gibbs said. He ran his fingers across Tony's cheek and smiled.

"Your incision's looking good," Marks said as he gently poked at the area. "The redness and swelling is going down. It's healing up nicely. I don't want you soaking it but you're welcome to take a shower if you'd like."

"Oh, I'd like," Gibbs said.

"I'm sure Tony will show you where the showers are and it should go without saying but don't scrub the incision. Dab at that area and the let the steri-strips fall off on their own."

"Thank you."

Marks finished checking Gibbs over then continued on to his next patient. Tony still hadn't made an effort to get up or even open his eyes. Gibbs continued running his fingers through Tony's hair and across his cheek. He wasn't even really thinking about what he was doing. It just came naturally.

"You probably have to pee, don't you?" Tony mumbled.

"Pretty soon," Gibbs replied.

"I do too," Tony said. "I was thinking about just wetting the chair though. If you wet the bed we could both go back to sleep."

"Why don't you take them up on the offer for a room?" Gibbs asked.

"'cause, I wanna be here in case you need me."

"I can call a nurse."

"No need," Tony said, finally opening his eyes and stretching. "I'm up."

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Gibbs felt a little foolish letting Tony escort him around everywhere. He was slowly regaining his strength but he wasn't quite strong enough to go long distances on his own yet. For the time being he was just enjoying being outside and getting a little fresh air. Marks had given Tony permission to take him to the little food court right around the corner from the hospital for dinner.

The gentle breeze felt good through the thin fabric of his sweatpants. Not even the dust in the air bothered Gibbs. It was good to be out of the stuffy hospital.

"What do you want to eat?" Tony asked as he watched Gibbs sit down at one of the empty tables. "They have really good hotdogs. The sandwiches aren't bad. There's soup, nachos, pizza, fries…"

"Maybe a sub and some French fries," Gibbs said. A hotdog and pizza both sounded really good but he wasn't sure if he'd be able to keep either of those down. His stomach was still feeling a little funny.

"Coming right up."

Tony got a sub and some fries for himself as well and he then Gibbs enjoyed a nice, quiet dinner as the sun went down. The open landscape made the colorful sunset absolutely stunning. Gibbs decided it was perfect for his first trip outside the hospital in a couple days.

"It's nice to be outside again," Gibbs said. He was quiet for a moment before speaking again. "Tony, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you being here. If it weren't for you I'd still be stuck in bed." Tony was basically like his own personal nurse. There weren't enough staff members to take each of the patients outside or give them all the one on one attention he was getting from Tony.

"It's really no problem, Boss," Tony said. "You coulda called though or something. I was worried when you disappeared."

"It was classified. I couldn't tell you." It had pained him to leave like that but there was no other way. It had taken him back to leaving Shannon and Kelly that last time only he'd left Tony and the team with even less information.

"I know that," Tony said. "Still sucks." He wasn't going to say it out loud but he was glad Gibbs wasn't in this line of work anymore. The waiting and the not knowing was hard.

"Hey," Gibbs said, "it was a onetime thing."

Tony laughed. "I forgot about you being able to read my mind." He looked up at Gibbs with a serious expression on his face. "I really am happy for you, Gibbs. That's a cool thing to be able to put on your super secret resume. I will admit to being kinda jealous that I wasn't there to watch your six."

"Tony," Gibbs said with a slight laugh, "I can't even walk down the hall by myself. I'm lucky if I make it through the night without wetting the bed, it hurts to breathe, I haven't had a cup of coffee in I can't even remember how long…" he let his voice trail off. "It was all worth it and I'd do it again in a heartbeat but war is ugly. It has gruesome consequences. You just enjoy scarfing down all those hotdogs and pizza, drinking pop and coffee and going to bathroom and showering by yourself."

Tony nodded and turned back to his sandwich but Gibbs could see that he was still troubled.

"Hey," Gibbs said, "taking out some damn terrorist is no more important that getting justice for a victim. Heroes come in all shapes and sizes."

"I don't feel like a hero," Tony admitted.

"That's what makes you even more heroic," Gibbs said. "Heroes don't do what they do for fame and recognition. They don't need or even want to see their faces plastered all over the 5:00 news. That's not what feeds them. Helping people out in ways that they can't help themselves, there is no better feeling in the world, Tony."

"I didn't know you were so deep, Boss," Tony said with a smile.

Gibbs winked at him before taking a bite of his sandwich.

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Abby enjoyed slurping on her Caf-Pow while her 'babies' came to life. After Tony had called, she'd showered and dressed then headed for NCIS. It wasn't surprising to find the building dark and practically vacant.

Once her computer was ready and waiting, she plugged her phone into it and pulled up the program she used to trace phone numbers. The phone number was one of the weirdest ones she'd seen. It didn't even appear to have the right number of digits which only made her more curious.

She tapped her foot impatiently and continued working on her drink while the computer did its thing. When the computer beeped and the location popped up she almost couldn't believe her eyes.

"Afghanistan?" she asked. "What are you two doing in Kandahar, Afghanistan?"

She ran a search to find out what was located at the address on the screen and panic really started to set in. "A hospital?"

"What are you doing here so early, Abs?" Tim asked.

"Worrying," Abby grumbled.

"About Gibbs and Tony?" Tim asked. "I'm sure they're fine. The director would've told us if they weren't."

"Then why are they at a hospital in Afghanistan?" Abby asked.

"What?" Tim asked looking over her shoulder.

"That is a military base," Ziva said, appearing out of nowhere. "The hospital is the main thing there but it is also an airfield. People visit the base for many reasons."

"Where'd you come from, Ziva?" Tim asked.

"My apartment."

"Funny," Tim said.

"Have you been there?" Abby asked.

"Yes. Jenny and I were there almost a decade ago. We flew in and waited to be picked up by… our ride."

"Sounds cryptic," Tim said.

"Good," Ziva said. "Why the sudden interest?"

"Tony called me really early this morning," Abby explained. "He said that he and Gibbs are okay but he doesn't know when they'll be home. He also said Gibbs'll be proud of you for breaking open the cold case, Timmy."

"Did he tell you why they were there?" Tim asked.

"Uh, not exactly," Abby said hesitantly. "He didn't actually tell me where they were. I traced the call."

"I'm sure Tony knew you'd try to trace the call and if it was that important he'd have found a way to call that you couldn't trace," Tim said. "At least now we know they're okay."

"I won't feel better until I can see them both with my own two eyes and give them a hug and then yell at them for disappearing like this," Abby said.

"I am sure they had a good reason for leaving us in the dark," Ziva said. "Whatever they are doing is probably important."

"Yeah, Abs," Tim said. "I'm sure they'll be home soon."


	7. I Just Wanna Be Home

Gibbs once again woke earlier than Tony. Now that his sleep schedule was evening out he was back to waking up early in the morning. It wasn't a big surprise that Tony was overtired considering he'd been waiting on him hand and foot and helping him with everything. Tony had been taking really good care of him. Gibbs looked over Tony's body which was folded up in the desk chair and slumped over onto the edge of the bed. He was surprised Tony could still stand after sleeping like that for several nights but the younger man had turned down all offers for the room that had been prepared for him.

Gibbs had no idea what he'd done to inspire that kind of loyalty. The last thing he would've expected was a member of his team to make such a big sacrifice for him. Tony had given up the comforts of home, risked his job and his safety to feed him, walk him to the bathroom and sit with him while he got a sponge bath. Gibbs knew he was doing it expecting nothing in return as well. Any questions in Gibbs' mind about the sincerity behind Tony's declaration of love were gone after the last several days.

Gibbs reached over and ghosted his fingers along Tony's hairline. He rested his hand just below Tony's ear and let his thumb glide back and forth over the younger man's cheek. He looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. Gibbs rarely saw him that calm and definitely never that quiet.

Tony smiled and leaned into the touch. He cuddled up closer to Gibbs' leg and settled back into a deep sleep.

"Somebody's tired this morning," Colonel Marks said quietly.

Gibbs smiled and nodded.

"He's a good one to have in your corner." Marks huffed on the end of his stethoscope before pressing it against Gibbs' chest.

"When did he get here?" Gibbs asked when the doctor was done listening to his lungs.

"Not long after you," Marks answered. "When I got done with your surgery I headed over to the airfield and picked him up. You didn't know he was coming?"

"No," Gibbs answered. "I didn't even think he knew where I was."

"Well, he's been a big help around here," Marks said. "I'm tempted to try to steal him away from you."

Gibbs had to fight off a sudden wave of possessiveness at that remark. Tony was his and his alone. Well, he wasn't technically. Tony could walk out that door at any moment and there wouldn't be a thing Gibbs could do about it. That thought was a little scary.

"Still with me?" Marks asked when Gibbs went quiet.

"Yeah," Gibbs answered. "Got a lot on my mind."

"I can see that. Your assignment for today is to work your lungs. I know it's sore but I don't want you to end up with pneumonia. Take deep breaths, cough and blow out a few long, slow breaths like you're trying to blow something away. That'll keep 'em exercised."

"Okay," Gibbs answered. "When can I get out of here, Doc?" Maybe if he kept asking, Marks would let him go.

"I'll check around today after I do my rounds and see when the next plane's coming through here. As long as all goes well today and you have someone around to keep an eye on you for the next few days, I'll let you go."

"I'll keep an eye on him," Tony said sleepily. "Gibbs nursed me back to health when I had the plague. Now I get to return the favor."

"Plague?"

"Plague."

"I won't ask," Marks said. "Let you know what I find out."

Tony sat up and rubbed his eyes as Marks headed off to see his next patient.

"Breakfast first or do you need to hit the head?"

"I gotta pee."

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The better Gibbs started feeling the longer the days seemed. For a man who was used to being on the move constantly, it was difficult to be so confined. There were only but so many card games he and Tony could play and the laps around the hospital were getting boring.

"Wanna go get some fresh air?" Gibbs asked. Tony looked just as bored as he did.

"Not sure how much fresh air we'll get with all that dust but it sure beats being stuck in here all day," Tony said. "Where's your robe?"

"They took it to wash," Gibbs answered.

"I'll go find you another one unless you want to flash everybody again?"

"I'll pass," Gibbs said.

"You sure? I'll do it too." Gibbs shot him a glare and Tony smiled sheepishly. "One robe, coming right up."

A half an hour later Gibbs and Tony were in the tiny park on base. There were a few trees for shade, a strip of American soil with vibrant green grass that was carefully tended to each day, a couple picnic tables, a few benches and a beautifully handcrafted, two person porch swing hanging from a sturdy tree branch. It wasn't much but was somehow it was more than enough.

After running their fingers through the thick, green grass, they settled in on the swing and let the gentle breeze move them back and forth. Tony told Gibbs about his conversation with Abby and they both guessed she'd trace the call. They discussed how to handle the barrage of questions they knew would come when they got home. When Gibbs had agreed to the mission he planned on giving a few vague answers when he returned. Being hurt would make it a little harder to explain.

"How are you really feeling?" Tony asked. He knew the standard 'I'm fine' answer Gibbs had been giving Colonel Marks was in hopes of being left alone.

"Sore," Gibbs answered. "Hurts to breathe, hurts to move, hurts like hell to pee."

"Pain pills aren't helping much?"

"They take the edge off, make it bearable."

"What was it like out there?" Tony asked hesitantly, unsure if Gibbs would answer.

"Wouldn't have been so bad if we'd of had food and water… and al Qaeda hadn't been chasing us."

"Were you scared?"

"You're so busy trying to survive, you don't really have time to be scared," Gibbs answered. "Why the sudden interest?"

Tony shrugged. "Just curious. I wanna know what you went through."

Gibbs nodded as he stretched his arm out and rested it on the bench behind Tony.

"There you guys are," Marks said.

"Checkin' up on me already, Doc?" Gibbs asked.

"Nope," Marks said. "I'm working on getting you guys out of here. We've got a plane leaving tomorrow evening headed for an aircraft carrier in the Atlantic. I can put you on that and they can get you to DC or we can wait for a plane going directly to the mainland which could happen anytime over the next couple weeks."

Gibbs looked over at Tony who just shrugged his shoulders.

"You're the one who's not feeling well," Tony said. "I'll be happy anywhere."

"I'm just trying to decide if my scrambled insides can handle the impact of landing and taking off of an aircraft carrier," Gibbs said.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, you will feel it," Marks said. "Regardless of your choice I'll send you out of here with enough pain pills to get you home."

"Let's go ahead and do the aircraft carrier," Gibbs said. "No offense, Doc, but I'm ready to get out of here."

"None taken," Marks replied with a smile. "I'll set it up."

"I could take a nap out here," Tony said after Marks had gone. He closed his eyes and tilted his face towards the sun. "Need a hammock."

"I can offer you my shoulder," Gibbs said.

"I don't know, Boss," Tony said. "I could sleep out here for hours. What if you have to get up and stretch?" Tony was still nervous about how close he was getting to Gibbs and how it was going to affect him when they returned home and things got back to normal.

"I'll wake you up," Gibbs said as he tugged Tony a little closer.

Tony's body stiffened as his head was drawn down to Gibbs' broad shoulder but it didn't take long for him to relax. He could feel Gibbs' nose in his hair, inhaling his scent and he smiled. The whole situation caught him off guard. He'd expected Gibbs to become more distant after his confession but the man seemed to be opening up and letting him in. Maybe Gibbs did like him too. There would be time to think about that later though. At the moment Tony just wanted to enjoy the peaceful swaying of the swing, the warm breeze against his skin and being cuddled against Gibbs' body.

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Gibbs woke with a start after a fierce gun battle with al-Qaeda in his head. Damn nightmares. He wondered how long it would take them to go away this time. He and Tony were still nestled together on the swing. They'd both fallen asleep. Thankfully the trees had protected them from what surely would've been a severe sunburn.

An unexpected cough tore at Gibbs' side and the cry of pain woke Tony instantly.

"You alright?"

"Yeah," Gibbs moaned. "Hurts to cough."

"I can imagine," Tony said, remembering all the couching he'd done when he had the plague. He was sure he'd come out of that with six-pack abs but despite the workout, his abs were weak from the toll the disease had taken on his body. "What time is it?"

Gibbs looked up at the sky and studied the sun. "Around 1400 hours."

2:00. They'd slept a lot longer than both of them thought they would. As much as Tony wanted to curl in again and go back to sleep, his full bladder and empty stomach told him it was time to get up. They stood and stretched and headed back towards the hospital.

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"So where did Gibbs and Tony go?" Probationary Agent Ned Dorneget asked as he flipped through a cold case file.

"It's classified," Tim replied. "If we told you, we'd have to kill you." He loved having his own probie to pick on and Dorneget made it so easy.

"Really?" Dorneget asked looking over to Ziva for confirmation.

"Yes," Ziva answered shortly.

"Do they get called away like this often?"

"Probably best if we focus on what we need to do, Probie," Tim said.

"Right."

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Gibbs looked over at Tony and saw his head swaying back and forth as sleep threatened to take him. It was only a little after 9:00 at night but Tony was exhausted. Gibbs hoped he'd be able to sleep through the night because he knew if he did, Tony would too. He'd tried once again that afternoon to get Tony to sleep in the bed in the room that had been offered to him but Tony had once again declined.

Gibbs looked down at the empty space on either side of him on the bed and wondered if he should offer it to Tony. He only hesitated because he didn't want to lead Tony on but was it leading him on if he wanted Tony too? He had no idea when his respect and admiration for the younger man had turned into want and lust. He'd always pushed those thoughts out of his head because he didn't think there was any way Tony would ever want him. Now that he knew that wasn't true, he wasn't quite sure what to do with the information. They should probably talk about it but neither were good at that.

"Tony," he said before he even realized the words were coming out of his mouth, "come up here with me." He scooted over to one side and patted the bed. He was no longer hooked up to countless pieces of equipment so there was no worry about getting tangled in the cords.

Tony's head snapped up as Gibbs' words brought him back from near sleep. "I'm not tired yet, Boss."

"You're fallin' asleep in your chair," Gibbs said. "Come on. I'm ready to turn the light off anyways." He knew Tony would go to bed if he thought that's what Gibbs wanted.

"Are you sure both of us are gonna fit in this small bed?"

"We'll make it work. Come on."

Tony yawned as he kicked his shoes off then sat on the edge of the bed. He laid back, resting his head on the pillow next to Gibbs' with the sides of their bodies pressed together.

"No fooling around," Gibbs teased, trying to get Tony to relax.

"Too tired to fool around," Tony said around another yawn. He reached over and turned the lamp off then let his body relax into the mattress. It felt so good to lie down. It only took a matter of minutes for him to fall asleep.

Gibbs laid quietly in the dark, listening to the rhythm of Tony's breathing. It had been a long time since he'd shared a bed with anybody. He'd forgotten how nice it was to have a warm body next to him. He wouldn't have minded cuddling with Tony but that might be a little too weird. After all, they were only sharing a bed because Tony was too stubborn to go sleep in his room. At least that was what Gibbs was telling himself.

He wasn't quite ready to go to sleep yet so he practiced a couple of the breathing exercises Marks had assigned to him that morning. He took a few long, deep breaths and blew them out slowly. He didn't do the coughing one. Coughing hurt like hell and he didn't want to disturb Tony.

He had to work hard to resist the urge to run his hand down Tony's arm and across his chest; to brush his fingertips over Tony's jaw line and maybe even touch his lips. Maybe sharing a bed wasn't such a smart idea after all but he couldn't stand the thought of Tony spending another night folded up in that chair. Gibbs rolled his head to the other side, closed his eyes and did his best to just focus on going to sleep.

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Tony smiled as he woke from the most wonderful night of sleep he'd ever had. Okay, maybe it wasn't the most wonderful but after several days of sleeping curled up in a chair, being in any bed was a luxury. Two grown men crammed into a hospital bed wasn't exactly the most comfortable way to sleep but considering who he was crammed into the bed with, Tony wasn't complaining.

Judging by the gentle rise and fall of Gibbs' chest and the calm, steady beating heart echoing in Tony's ear, Gibbs was still asleep. Tony wasn't in any hurry to get up. He was content to enjoy the closeness and perhaps pretend, if only for a little while, that he and Gibbs had a much different relationship.

He opened his eyes, careful not to move or do anything that would wake Gibbs and surely put an end to them cuddling, and realized the front of Gibbs' hospital gown had quite an impressive tent in it. Tony knew he shouldn't stare, knew he should close his eyes or look away but he couldn't. The thin material of the hospital gown and the lightweight sheet weren't doing anything to weigh Gibbs' morning erection down.

The only thing Tony seemed to be able to think about was sliding his head from Gibbs' chest down far enough that he could take Gibbs' cock in his mouth. He was so close he could almost taste it. What did Gibbs look like? What did he taste like? What kind of noises did he make? Despite all the help he'd been giving Gibbs, he only managed to catch a quick glimpse of the man's ass one time. The last thing on Gibbs' mind was probably sex with all the injuries he'd suffered but with Tony's current view, it was suddenly all he could think about.

Gibbs' hand came out of nowhere and rested against his cock, laying it flat against his body. The sudden movement from the man he thought was sleeping startled Tony and he jumped.

"You are awake," Gibbs said, his voice deep and gravelly from sleep.

"Yeah," Tony admitted. "Haven't been awake very long but I was too comfortable to move. Sorry."

"Enjoying the view?"

Tony laughed uncomfortably, unsure how to respond to that question. Gibbs' hand found the back of Tony's head, gently smoothing down the wild hair in long, even strokes and making Tony jump again.

"Sure are jumpy this morning," Gibbs said.

"Sorry," Tony said again. "I'm not used to this side of you. I usually get the head slaps and the glares."

"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Gibbs asked, one hand keeping the sheet from tenting and the other resting on the back of Tony's head.

Tony arched his head around until he could see Gibbs and the two smiled at each other. "Yeah," he answered.

Gibbs' hand went from the back of Tony's head to his cheek, brushing the pad of his thumb across lips. Tony pursed his lips, half kissing the thumb at his lips and struggling hard not to suck it into his mouth.

"I see you finally found a bed, Agent DiNozzo," Colonel Marks said as he entered the room.

"Sorry, Doc," Tony said, quickly rolling out of bed. "I know the beds are for the patients but, it just kinda happened."

Marks smiled as he transcribed the numbers on the monitors to Gibbs' chart. "How are you feeling this morning, Agent Gibbs?" he asked.

"Good," Gibbs answered. "I think that's the best night of sleep I've had in a long time and I couldn't be happier about getting out of here tonight."

"Glad to hear it," Marks said. "Are you practicing your breathing exercises?"

"Yep." It was only a partial lie. He'd been practicing all of them except for the coughing. Coughing made it feel like his insides were exploding.

"Still seeing blood in your urine?"

"Yeah."

"That's normal considering the blow your kidney took but if it doesn't clear up you'll need to follow up with your personal physician. Do not put it off. Understand?"

"I won't, Doc."

"Continue drinking as much water as you can tolerate and rest. I'm not sending you home to go straight into the field and wrestle with the bad guys. You can use a heating pad for aches and pains. I'll send you home with some 800mg Ibuprofen too and if you run out I'm sure you'll have no problem getting more from your family doctor."

"If you just give me enough to get me home, I can get some more once we hit land," Gibbs said. He knew supplies were limited in the field and knew Ducky could get him whatever he needed once he got back to DC.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. We'll go over all this again before you leave and I'll write it down for you. Just take it easy and we'll have you out of here in no time."

"Thanks, Doc."

Marks headed out, leaving Gibbs and Tony alone again. Gibbs swung his legs over the side of the bed and paused to make sure he wasn't going to get dizzy before standing. When he stood, he caught Tony's eyes drop to his cock and he couldn't help but smirk.

"He's gone," Gibbs said.

"Right," Tony said, snapping his head back up to Gibbs' face. "Sorry, I uh, I dunno know what I was thinking."

Gibbs just smiled as they started the slow journey down the hall to the bathroom.

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"I'm gonna miss you guys," Colonel Marks said as he drove Gibbs and Tony to the airfield that evening. "Agent DiNozzo, you'll always have a job in my hospital, son."

Tony laughed as he rolled his eyes. "I'm actually not a very good caretaker," he said. "It just comes easy when it's somebody you care about."

"Gibbs is a lucky guy to have you in his corner."

"Thanks!"

"Gibbs, I don't wanna hear back that you overdid it and ended up in the hospital," Marks warned.

"After spending almost a week here, the last thing I wanna do is go home and end up back in the hospital," Gibbs replied.

Marks laughed as he pulled the Army Jeep up next to the airplane. "Godspeed."

"Thanks for everything, Doc," Gibbs said as he shook the man's hand.

"See ya, Colonel," Tony said, shaking his hand after Gibbs.

Tony helped Gibbs onto the plane and the two got settled. The pilot and co-pilot introduced themselves before heading to the cockpit. Tony let Gibbs use his body to brace himself, knowing the rapid acceleration and quick climb into the sky weren't going to be very comfortable. He took on the brunt of the job of keeping both himself and Gibbs in the seat as the plane barreled down the runway.

"You doing okay?"

"Mm-hmm," Gibbs moaned. He leaned heavily against Tony when the plane lifted off the ground. The pressure on his internal organs was almost unbearable but all he could do was hold on and hope it passed quickly.

When the plane finally evened out, Gibbs all but collapsed onto Tony. "Just need a minute," he panted.

"Take your time," Tony said, cautiously wrapping his arm around Gibbs' back. He wasn't sure if his boss would be receptive to that or not. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I just wanna be home," Gibbs answered, burying his face in Tony's shoulder. He was really wishing they weren't headed to an aircraft carrier. He didn't want to endure an extra take off and landing or be stuck on the ship. He wanted his own home, his couch, his boat, his bourbon and most of all, some quiet. The base in Kandahar had been loud, the plane was loud and he knew the ship would be loud as well. On top of that there had been people walking in on him at all hours of the day and night, poking at him, watching him, telling him what to eat and drink. Nothing beat the comforts of home and a little privacy.

"We're getting there," Tony said. "Slowly but surely."

When Gibbs finally found the strength to sit up again Tony noticed the sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead. He knew it was probably because of the pain Gibbs was in and couldn't help but worry. He resisted the urge to ask Gibbs if he was okay again and did his best to relax. It was going to be a long flight.


	8. Unprepared

After leaving Afghanistan at 6:00 on Tuesday evening, Gibbs and Tony landed on the aircraft carrier in the North Atlantic at 6:30 the same evening. The time difference made it seem as if time had been standing still during the ten hour flight.

"Agent Gibbs, Agent DiNozzo, welcome aboard."

"Captain," Tony said with a nod of his head. Gibbs had moved beyond talking to growling like a wounded bear. It had been a long, bumpy and very uncomfortable flight.

"We've got you set up in the XO's quarters," the captain said. "There's a flight leaving for Virginia Beach on Thursday morning. Is that okay?"

"Sounds great!" Tony said. He was expecting to be stuck on the aircraft carrier for a lot longer than one day. "We can find a ride home from Virginia Beach."

"My car's there," Gibbs grunted, holding his side as if that were going to help him feel better.

"Are you alright, Sir?" the captain asked.

"Mmm."

"He'll be okay," Tony said.

Their escort took them to the room that would be theirs while they were onboard and left them alone. Gibbs sat down on the small couch in the room and immediately laid down. He was in pain and exhausted. He hated being tired all the time. He never got tired in DC.

"You gonna live?" Tony asked as he dropped his duffle on the floor.

"Yeah," Gibbs moaned.

"Why don't you take the bed, Boss," Tony said.

"'m fine on the couch," Gibbs replied. "You haven't slept in a bed all week. Besides, I prefer the couch."

"That's more of a loveseat than a couch. Not gonna be very comfortable." When Gibbs didn't respond, Tony decided to drop it. "Want me to dig your sweats outta your bag?"

"Just wanna sleep."

"'kay. I'm gonna go grab some grub. Do you want anything?"

"Mm-mm."

Tony smiled as Gibbs' eyes slipped closed and his body relaxed into the loveseat. He'd been tense during most of the flight which had made Tony tense. Neither of them had gotten any rest. Tony covered Gibbs with the blanket from the bed then headed out in search of the mess hall. He returned less than a half an hour later with a bottle of water in each pocket and a bag of food to share with Gibbs, hoping the man's pain had subsided enough he could eat something.

"You know the only good thing about this insane time difference?" Tony asked as he entered the room.

"Hmm?" Gibbs asked, still laid out on the couch.

"You get to eat dinner twice!" Tony exclaimed happily. "Brought you some water so you can take your pills and a nice, greasy American hamburger and French fries in case you changed your mind about being hungry."

Gibbs sat up slowly and took the bag from Tony. After a half an hour of not having his body thrown around, he was finally starting to feel a little better. He was glad Tony brought him something to eat despite him indicating he wasn't hungry. The food smelled really good.

Tony grabbed Gibbs' bottle of pills and popped the cap off then opened one of the bottles of water. "Holy horse pill," he said. "This looks like a meal in itself."

Gibbs took the pills with a grunt between a bite of his burger and fries.

Tony just smiled as he watched. It was nice to see Gibbs eating again. He decided maybe Gibbs was feeling well enough to bring up the sleeping arrangements again. "You know, we could share the bed, like we did in Kandahar," he suggested while Gibbs ate.

Gibbs thought it over as he finished chewing the food in his mouth. "That what you want?"

Tony smiled innocently and shrugged.

"Alright," Gibbs said, hesitating only briefly, "but only if you promise to keep your hands to yourself."

"I promise," Tony said with a smile.

The two made small talk while they ate their dinner. It was nice to finally have a little privacy. There were no doctors or nurses coming and going, no air raid sirens, no code alarms, no patients on the other side of the curtain moaning and groaning in pain. It wasn't quiet by any means but privacy was one step up from what they'd had in Kandahar.

Despite it only being 8:00, they decided to go ahead and turn in for the night when they'd finished eating. In the time zone they'd just left it was already morning and they hadn't been to bed yet. After hitting the head and changing into sweats, they laid down in the small bunk in the room.

"Is there a reason our heads are at the foot of the bed?" Tony asked once they were settled.

"Yeah."

"And that would be?"

"'cause I don't wanna be stuck against the wall and I know you're head's gonna end up on my chest. If we slept at the other end of the bed, your head would be on top of my incision."

"Oh," Tony said. "I guess that makes sense." He didn't mind being stuck between Gibbs and the wall. Hell, if he was sharing a bed with Gibbs, he didn't mind much of anything.

Gibbs wrapped his arm around Tony and pulled him close. With the size of the bed, the only way they'd be able to get comfortable would be to cuddle together. Tony curled into Gibbs' side and draped his arm over Gibbs' midsection. When he started absently tracing the logo on Gibbs' t-shirt, Gibbs reached down and held onto his hand to stop him.

"Forgot," Tony said apologetically, already starting to play with Gibbs' fingers. He couldn't help it. He'd gone from almost losing Gibbs, to finally confessing a deep-seated secret, to sharing a bed with him two nights in a row. On top of that, Gibbs was actually starting to open up to him; he was no longer pulling away from Tony's touch or running from deep conversation.

Gibbs rubbed his hand across Tony's back while Tony continued playing with his fingers. Having Gibbs' hand so close to his mouth only made Tony want to kiss it, so he did. When Gibbs didn't pull away, Tony turned Gibbs' hand over and kissed the palm. Gibbs freed his hand from Tony's and used it to tilt Tony's face towards his. Tony got the message and scooted closer.

The two brushed their lips together before Gibbs gave a subtle peck which was quickly and eagerly returned by Tony. Gibbs' hands found Tony's face as Tony crawled even closer.

"Tony," Gibbs said breathlessly.

"I know," Tony said as he pulled away. "Hands to myself but in all fairness you never said anything about my lips."

"Smartass," Gibbs said with a gentle laugh.

Tony rested his head on the pillow next to Gibbs' head. Gibbs turned to face him and the two shared another brief kiss.

"I like kissin' you," Tony said softly.

Gibbs rubbed his nose against Tony's and stole another quick peck. "Me too," he said.

The next thing Tony knew, Gibbs' lips were on his again and Gibbs' tongue was requesting access to his mouth. He opened up without hesitation and the kissing started again.

"Mmm, this is much more fun than sleeping," Tony said the next time they broke apart for air.

"It is," Gibbs agreed, "but we probably should try to get some sleep." As much as he would've liked to have continued making out, he didn't trust himself not to take things further and he wasn't sure if either of them were ready for that yet.

"Right, sleep," Tony said.

He rolled onto his side and faced the wall so his erection wouldn't brush up against Gibbs' body. Moments later, he felt Gibbs' back pressed again his and wondered if Gibbs had rolled over for the same reason. It didn't really matter though. Tony was just thrilled to be sharing a bed with him again.

Exhaustion won out over their raging hormones and both men fell asleep relatively quickly.

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Vance dropped down into his desk chair, happy to finally have a half an hour free, at least he hoped he'd get the whole half hour. It had been a hectic morning of drawn out meetings, a firing and getting his ass handed to him by SecNav for a sloppy mistake the fired agent had made. He stared at the garden salad Jackie had sent him for lunch and wished more than anything that he was staring at a juicy cheeseburger or a cheesy slice of pizza. He'd just picked up his fork to take a bite when his private line rang.

"Vance," he answered with a grumble.

"Hey, Director," Gibbs greeted.

"Gibbs, haven't heard from you." Of all the voices he thought he might hear on the other end of the phone, Gibbs' wasn't one of them.

"Haven't been able to get to a phone," Gibbs explained.

"How are you?" Vance asked.

"Been better, been worse," Gibbs answered. "I'm alive. DiNozzo and I are on an aircraft carrier in the North Atlantic. We fly back to Virginia Beach tomorrow morning."

"Need a ride home?"

"No, I left my car down there a couple weeks ago."

"How much downtime did the doctor order?" Vance asked. He knew Gibbs had been injured but wasn't sure to what extent.

"Didn't give me a set time," Gibbs replied. "I'm supposed to see my doctor when I get back."

"Never thought I'd say this but I miss you around here, Gibbs," Vance said.

Gibbs could hear the smile in Vance's voice. "Just remember that the next time you feel like rippin' me a new one."

Vance couldn't not laugh. Yes, he missed Gibbs. "See you when you get back. Thanks for calling."

Gibbs smiled as he hung up the phone.

"How are things on the home front?" Tony asked, looking up from the magazine he was reading.

"Didn't ask," Gibbs answered. "Vance sounded stressed."

"He misses us," Tony concluded.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After another night on the aircraft carrier and a bumpy flight, Gibbs and Tony finally set foot back on the mainland. Tony hadn't been home in over a week and Gibbs in nearly a month. They loaded their gear into Gibbs' car then headed for the diner they sometimes stopped at when they were in the area. It was nearing dinnertime and they'd skipped lunch due to all the turbulence on the plane.

"Are you as happy as I am to be able to sleep in your own bed tonight?" Gibbs asked as they ate.

"Yeah," Tony answered with a shrug of his shoulders. It was obvious from his tone that he wasn't anywhere near as thrilled as Gibbs was.

"Doesn't sound like it," Gibbs said.

"I'm just tired," Tony lied. He'd spent the last week with Gibbs, literally helping him do everything. He'd spent the last three nights sharing a bed with the man and now they were home and heading to their separate places. He didn't expect to come home and move in together but he realized he hadn't prepared himself for the sudden separation that was coming. "You gonna be alright by yourself?"

"I'll be fine," Gibbs answered. "I'm sure Ducky'll stop by and check on me. Wouldn't be surprised if Abby showed up too, if she's not too mad at me. I won't be alone all night." He didn't want Tony to worry about him or feel like he had to continue playing nurse. Tony had already sacrificed too much for him.

"Worried's more like it," Tony said. "I can't imagine Abby ever staying mad at you for long."

Tony put spending the night away from Gibbs out of his mind and focused on enjoying the last little bit of time they had together. The two enjoyed a hot, traditional American meal and a somewhat peaceful ride home. Despite getting stuck in rush hour traffic in Richmond, they made pretty good time. Tony carried the conversation while he drove and Gibbs relaxed in the passenger seat. Had the trip been shorter, Gibbs would've insisted on driving but he'd willingly given the keys to Tony for the three hour drive.

Not long after the sun had set, Tony pulled into Gibbs' driveway. Neither of them missed Ducky's Morgan parked on the street in front of the house or the soft light coming from the living room. Gibbs' heart sank at the sight. He didn't mind a visit from his longtime friend but he'd just left a hospital where he had people poking at him and fussing over him constantly.

"Vance musta told him we'd be home today," Tony said as they got out of the car.

Gibbs didn't respond as he got his bag out of the trunk and headed to the house with Tony.

Tony opened the door and entered first. "We're home!" he announced dramatically.

"Welcome back," Ducky said. He had a fire going in the fireplace and there was a western playing on the TV.

"You really didn't have to do all this, Duck," Gibbs said as he sat down on the couch. "I'm sure you're anxious to get home after a long day at work."

"It's no trouble, Jethro," Ducky replied. "I figured it wouldn't hurt to check you over after that long flight and stay with you in case you need anything. I'll sleep on the couch. You won't even know I'm here."

"I usually sleep on the couch," Gibbs said.

"I know but you'll be more comfortable stretched out in your bed, where you belong," Ducky said.

"Duck, I just left a bunch of doctors ordering me around," Gibbs grumbled.

"I realize that but I know you, Jethro," Ducky said. "I don't want you overdoing it and ending up back in the hospital. Don't worry, Anthony, I'll stay with him no matter how grumpy he gets. I'm sure Kate's eager to see you."

"Kate's a fish, Ducky, not a dog," Tony grumbled. He knew the doctor meant well but Tony couldn't help but feel a little jealous. He'd been the one taking care of Gibbs. If anyone was going to stay, it should be him. He knew he couldn't say anything to Ducky without giving away their developing relationship so he decided to just head out. "Call me if you need anything. See you guys later."

"Thanks for everything, Tony," Gibbs said.

"Anytime, Boss."


	9. The Night Is Not My Friend

Tony tried not to stare at the small alarm clock next to his bed. He knew that would only make time pass slower but he couldn't help it. He hadn't been able to sleep a wink. Despite the sheets and blankets covering him, he was cold and lonely and his room was far too quiet. He missed the subtle sound of Gibbs' breathing and the persistent thumping of his heart beating beneath his ear. He missed having a warm body pressed up against his and a strong hand moving gently across his back. He missed running his fingers over the other man's chest while his head was peppered with kisses between conversations about life and fate, love and loss and other topics the two would normally never bring up. Tony discovered it was actually nice to have someone he could share everything with.

He rolled over onto his belly, hoping that would help but it wasn't long before he was on his side again and then his back. He'd tried hugging a pillow, surrounding himself with pillows and even pretending Gibbs was there but it was no use. Pillows and imaginary friends didn't help the loneliness at all. His room was quiet, his bed was empty and he was alone and it was only a quarter past one in the morning.

How on earth had he gotten so attached in such a short amount of time? It actually hadn't been a short amount of time. He'd had a thing for Gibbs for awhile now and now that he'd gotten a taste of the possessiveness of Gibbs' kiss and the warmth of his touch he never wanted to go without again.

He rolled out of bed and absently dressed himself then headed down to his car. He didn't care about the consequences or the message it would send; he had to get to Gibbs' house. He made the short journey on autopilot, not thinking about anything except getting there. When he arrived he found the house dark. He entered silently and made his way upstairs, doing his best not to wake Ducky.

Tony paused in the doorway to Gibbs' bedroom. He knew if he went any closer the man would sense his presence and wake up and that wasn't what he wanted. Gibbs hadn't been sleeping all that great. Somehow just being in the same house with Gibbs made Tony feel better.

The streetlight offered just enough light for Tony to be able to see Gibbs. He could hear Gibbs' deep, even breaths and was satisfied that the man was okay so he snuck downstairs and headed to the basement. Maybe a little black and white TV and some sanding would help calm him so he could get some sleep as well. It always seemed to work for Gibbs. He'd do anything to avoid going home to his lonely, cold apartment.

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Gibbs woke from his first good night of sleep in weeks feeling like he could take on the world. Home—that was what he needed to help his recovery, not doctors and nurses and pills. He got up and showered then brewed a pot of coffee, his first since he'd boarded that helicopter a couple weeks ago. Just opening the container of coffee was enough to make his water.

"You're going to have to take it easy on that stuff, Jethro," Ducky said.

Gibbs turned and smiled at the doctor. "Morning, Duck."

"Good morning," Ducky replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Great," Gibbs answered happily.

"I'm glad you're feeling better, Jethro, but please do try to take it easy or you'll end up feeling worse than before."

"I know, Doc," Gibbs said. "When can I go back to work?"

"Six to eight weeks," Ducky answered.

Gibbs narrowed his eyes at the doctor, not liking that answer at all but he could see Ducky was going to stand his ground. He shrugged it off, deciding they could argue about it later.

"Anthony's here," Ducky said, gladly changing the subject.

"He is?"

"He got in early this morning," Ducky said. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"About?" Gibbs asked, grabbing a coffee cup from the cupboard.

Ducky just looked at Gibbs with a knowing smirk. There could only be one reason Tony wasn't home sleeping in his own bed after such an exhausting adventure.

"What's that look for?" Gibbs asked, barely resisting the urge to chug the freshly brewed coffee.

"Something tells me you two returned with a closer relationship than you had when you left," Ducky said.

"Stay out of it, Duck," Gibbs warned gently.

"Oh, don't worry, Jethro. Your secret's safe with me," Ducky said. "Why don't you go check on him? He's in the basement. I'll make us some breakfast."

Gibbs grumbled under his breath as he headed for the basement stairs. He didn't like Ducky being able to read him so easily. He and Tony were letting things happen gradually and progress naturally. They hadn't talked about what was happening between them and he didn't want anyone getting the wrong impression or trying to pressure them into anything.

The black and white TV was flickering and the bare bulb hanging over his boat lit up the basement. Tony was curled up under the boat, covered in sawdust with a sanding block still in his hand. If Tony's intent was to turn him on, it was working. Gibbs moved over next to him and looked over his prone body.

"Tony," he said, resisting the urge to reach out and touch him. Between the sawdust and just knowing Tony would be receptive to his touch, he knew if he got started that he wouldn't stop.

Tony whimpered and whined as he stretched his body out. "How do you even move after sleeping down here?" he groaned.

"There's a sleeping mat on the shelf," Gibbs said, pointing in the general direction. "That helps a little. I don't sleep down here as much as I used to."

"Sorry, Boss."

"Rule six," Gibbs said before taking another big gulp of his coffee.

"I know but I don't know how this got so complicated," Tony confessed. "I couldn't stop worrying. What if you needed help getting to the bathroom? What if you needed a glass of water? What if you needed something to eat? Then I couldn't stop thinking about sharing a bed with you. My apartment felt so empty and my bed was so cold. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me."

Gibbs ran his fingers down the side of Tony's face as he listened to what he was saying. "I may not be able to move very fast yet but I can get around on my own," he said gently. He didn't want Tony worrying constantly whenever they were apart.

"I know and I know you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself," Tony said. He paused and rested his hand on top of Gibbs' hand that was still on his face. "I don't know what's happening to me, Boss," he confessed quietly.

"It's called falling in love, my dear boy," Ducky said from the stairs. "Breakfast is ready."

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After breakfast, Ducky headed off to work leaving Gibbs and Tony alone. Tony had the rest of the week off to recuperate and Gibbs couldn't return until Ducky cleared him. Tony cleared the breakfast dishes off the table and ran some dishwater. He usually hated doing the dishes but it was a good excuse to get him out of talking to Gibbs. He didn't have a clue what to say. He felt weak for ending up at Gibbs' house in the first place.

He was about halfway finished when he felt two hands come to rest on his hips. His breath hitched and he froze when he felt the warmth of Gibbs' breath on his neck. The warm, moist lips suckling on the sensitive skin of his neck drew a moan from deep inside him.

"I missed sharing a bed with you last night too," Gibbs said softly.

Tony let out a strangled whimper in response. He could feel his dick getting heavy which was making his face flush. His hands were still in the dishwater, mainly because he didn't know where else to put them at that point.

Gibbs kissed Tony's neck again and wrapped his arms around Tony's waist. "Is this okay?" he asked as he nibbled on Tony's ear.

Tony didn't have a clue how to answer that. His mind was telling him they really needed to talk but his body was telling him continue to let things progress naturally. He trusted Gibbs and knew him well enough to know he wouldn't risk their relationship for a little fooling around.

He dried his hands then turned in Gibbs' arms so they were facing each other. He wasn't expecting the look of love and admiration he saw on Gibbs' face. The normally hard expression had softened into one Tony had never seen before. There was no way he could resist the man when he was looking at him like that.

He brought his hands up to Gibbs' head and drew him into a passionate kiss that ended in nipping and sucking as passion and hunger replaced fears and insecurities. Gibbs took Tony's wrist and tugged his hand down to the front of his pants. Feeling how hard a little kissing and their close proximity had made Gibbs lit a fire inside Tony. He immediately latched on and started tugging and rubbing and squeezing Gibbs' erection through his sweatpants.

Gibbs' breathing turned to heavy panting and his head fell back. He wanted to encourage Tony to keep going but he couldn't form any words. Years of secret admiration and hidden lust were turning into reality and it was overwhelming. He stepped closer and pushed his hips out towards Tony's. Tony pulled his hand out of the way and could feel Gibbs' cock rubbing against his through his jeans and Gibbs' sweats.

"You feel so good," Gibbs moaned.

"I'm not hurting you, am I?"

"No."

The two moved against each other, rubbing harder and moaning louder as they got closer to release. Tony grabbed onto Gibbs' ass and held their bodies tightly together while Gibbs kissed and nipped at his neck.

"So close," Tony whimpered.

Gibbs reached down and squeezed Tony's ass as he quickened the pace. He was close too and really wanted to finish together. "You ready?" he asked, hoping Tony would understand.

"Yes," Tony cried as he pulled them even closer.

The two buried their faces in each other's shoulders and let themselves go. The kitchen was filled with moaning and groaning as they moved against each other until they couldn't move anymore.

"Wow," Tony breathed.

Gibbs decided against the 'that's what they all tell me' comment and kissed the top of Tony's head instead.

"What're we doing, Gibbs?" Tony asked, still nestled in Gibbs' arms. "I need to know what you want from me." It was a question he probably should've asked before they got each other off but Tony hadn't been thinking with the head on his shoulders when Gibbs had seduced him.

"What are we doing? We're letting things take their natural course," Gibbs said. "What do I want from you? I want you to be yourself. Tony, it's you that I feel in love with—happy, loving, goofy, compassionate, funny, loyal, intelligent, you. I don't want you change to try to please me. You're not gonna be able to make me love you anymore."

The honesty in Gibbs' eyes made Tony's heart melt. "No one's ever understood me before," he said with a smile. "People usually write me off as a screw up who uses humor to hide my stupidity."

"That's their loss," Gibbs said. He leaned in and kissed Tony again then rubbed his thumb across Tony's lips. "I'm not very good with words. If it's some long, verbal declaration of my love or a promise of a perfect future you need, I can't give you that. I can tell you that I know you… the real you that you try to hide from everybody and that I love you. I'll give you everything I've got, Tony, do everything I can to make you happy."

"Thought you said you weren't good with words," Tony said. "I really couldn't ask for anything else. I know if you're by my side, we can do anything we want. I love you, have for a long time."

They knew they needed to get cleaned up but for the time being they were content to just hold each other and continue kissing and touching and finally being together after so many years of denying what they really wanted.

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After an excruciatingly long day at NCIS, Abby got in her car and headed straight for Gibbs' house. Her driving would've put Ziva's to shame but she hadn't seen Tony in over a week and Gibbs in almost a month. She didn't know if she was relieved that they were back or angry that they'd disappeared.

She hoped Gibbs would be home. Neither he nor Tony had been answering their phones all day. She figured she'd be more likely to catch Gibbs at home than Tony but when she turned onto Gibbs' street she found Tony's car parked next to Gibbs'.

"Hinky," she said as she pulled into the driveway. In her excitement to get inside, she almost forgot to put the car in park before getting out. She headed into the house and was met by Gibbs in the entryway with his finger over his lips.

"Shh," he whispered. "Tony's asleep."

Tears formed in the corners of Abby's eyes as she wrapped her arms tightly around Gibbs.

"Easy, Abs," Gibbs said, moving her arm away from his bruised kidney. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed tightly as he kissed the top of her head.

Abby cuddled in close for a moment then pulled back long enough to smack him in the chest. "Don't ever do that again! I was so worried about you," she said before immediately cuddling back in.

"I missed you, Abs," Gibbs said softly.

Abby's arm found his bruised kidney again making him flinch. It didn't go unnoticed by Abby. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you hurt? Is that why you were at a hospital? What were you doing for almost a month?"

"Slow down," Gibbs said as he took her hand and led her into the kitchen. "I couldn't tell you where I was going and I can't tell you what I was doing."

"Did you get hurt?" Abby asked.

"A little," Gibbs answered hesitantly.

"A little? What does that mean?"

"Just a little bruise," Gibbs said. "You wanna eat with us? We're having beer can chicken." He knew if he didn't change the subject, the questions would keep coming.

"Sure, that sounds good," Abby said. "Why is Tony here and how come he's asleep at 5:00 in the afternoon?"

"He hasn't been sleeping well," Gibbs answered, getting the chicken out of the fridge, "and he's here because… he and I got close while we were gone."

"Close? As in _close_ close?"

"Yes, Abby. _Close_ close."

"Aww—"

"Ah-ah," Gibbs grunted, cutting her off. "Don't start."

Abby pulled her fingers across her mouth as if she were zipping it closed. Gibbs got started on their dinner while Abby filled him in on all the office gossip, case developments and everything else he'd missed over the last several weeks. The smell of dinner cooking over the fire and the quiet conversation woke Tony from his nap. He rested quietly with his eyes closed and just listened until he felt Gibbs' fingers on his feet.

"Stop," he mumbled tiredly.

Gibbs sat down and pulled Tony's feet into his lap and the tickling turned into a foot rub. "Dinner's almost ready. Abby's gonna eat with us."

"Hey, Abs," Tony said, opening his eyes and smiling over at her. He sat up and Abby was at his side in an instant. Tony wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple.

"You know, I should be really mad at you," she said.

"But you love me too much, right?" Tony asked hopefully.

"I hear I have to be careful about declaring my love for you now," Abby said with a mischievous grin. "I don't want Gibbs getting jealous."

Gibbs looked over at Tony and winked at him. They'd only decided that morning to take their relationship to the next level but Gibbs didn't see any point in lying about it. He doubted Tony would care if he told Abby and knew Abby would keep their secret.

The three of them enjoyed a lively dinner full of fun and laughter. It was nice to spend time together again after being apart for so long. Tony filled Abby in on the extent of Gibbs' injuries when she heard the garbled moans coming from the bathroom. Gibbs glared at her when he returned and she punched him in the arm but he only ended up getting lectured for lying to her about his 'small bruise'.

After dinner was cleaned up, Abby headed off to meet the nuns at the bowling alley with promises to return for another visit soon. He knew his hopes for a quiet, peaceful recovery were dashed but he realized that wasn't what he wanted after all. He would rather be surrounded by loved ones.

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
 **Two Months Later…**

Gibbs traced an invisible line over Tony's arm and across his chest. It was still very early in the morning but for the first time in months Gibbs had somewhere to be that day. Ducky had come over the night before and cleared him to return to work and he was so antsy to get back he couldn't sleep so he figured he and Tony could have a little fun before they had to leave.

Once they'd both decided to jump in with both feet, their relationship had progressed quickly. They spent almost every night together either at Gibbs' house or Tony's apartment. Tony was learning the art of woodworking and Gibbs was starting to quote movies and both found they really enjoyed each other's activities.

Their intimate relationship had progressed quickly too. They'd gone from grinding against each other with their clothes on to hand jobs and blow jobs before going all the way and once they'd started there was no stopping them. That was one thing Gibbs would miss now that he was returning to work; hours of making out, kissing and touching until they couldn't take it anymore and went at it like horny teenagers. Yes, he would definitely miss that.

He leaned over and twirled his tongue around Tony's nipple before nibbling on it.

"Oh yeah," Tony groaned in his sleep.

Gibbs smiled before surrounding the raised nub with his mouth and sucking hard.

"My days go much better when I wake up to your tongue instead of the alarm clock," Tony moaned sleepily.

Gibbs suckled and kissed Tony's chest while his hand explored lower. He bypassed Tony's straining cock and rolled his balls then continued lower. Tony reached under the pillow and grabbed the lube as he raised his legs to give Gibbs easier access. He drizzled some lube on himself and over Gibbs' fingers.

Gibbs' lips traveled up Tony's neck, across his cheek and over to his mouth. He pushed a finger inside and Tony easily accepted him. When Tony opened his mouth to moan, Gibbs took advantage and deepened the kiss. He thrust his cock against Tony's hip as he eased another finger inside.

Tony nearly came unglued when the tip of Gibbs' finger brushed against his prostate. It was exquisite torture and quickly becoming one of Tony's favorite ways to make love. Gibbs would touch him everywhere but his cock until he couldn't take it anymore then Gibbs would pump him hard and fast to a mind blowing orgasm.

After Gibbs had opened Tony up, he lubed his cock then settled between Tony's legs. He leaned over and took Tony's mouth in another demanding kiss as he rubbed his cock against Tony's. Tony let his body relax as Gibbs' lips moved down his neck and across his chest to his nipple. Gibbs lined himself up at Tony's entrance then bit down on his nipple as he pushed all the way in.

"Shit!" Tony grunted.

"Good?" Gibbs grunted, already rocking his hips.

"That'll never get old," Tony moaned, moving in sync with Gibbs.

"Glad to hear it." Gibbs kissed Tony again before sitting back on his knees. He rubbed his hands all over Tony's body while listening for the subtle changes in Tony's breathing and watching him squirm and writhe beneath him. He drizzled some lube over Tony's cock then played with Tony's balls until he heard and saw the telltale signs of his impending release.

Gibbs angled his thrusts upwards to hit Tony's prostate as he grabbed Tony's cock and started squeezing and pumping. Tony was crying out in pleasure as he rolled his hips, thrusting into Gibbs' hand and then impaling himself on Gibbs' dick.

Tony's eager, enthusiastic movements were quickly pushing Gibbs towards the point of no return. He let himself go and moments later they were both crying out in ecstasy together.

"More effective than a cup of coffee," Tony said as their bodies stilled and their breathing and heart rates returned to normal.

"It'll tide me over till I get to the coffee pot," Gibbs said.

Tony ran his hand down Gibbs' chest as his lover leaned over to kiss him again. Gibbs pulled out gently and sat on the edge of the bed. Tony rolled over and sat next to him.

"Still kinda early," Tony said. He chuckled as he continued, "even for you."

"Why do I have the feeling you're gonna be begging for a head slap all day?"

"Can't help it," Tony said. "I'm addicted to your touch."

Gibbs smiled over at Tony and ran his hand across his thigh. "Let's get a shower then I'll buy you some breakfast before work."

Tony didn't have to be asked twice. Gibbs watched him disappear into the bathroom with a smile still on his face. His life was finally starting to feel complete again. He'd been sent overseas to breach one of the biggest terrorist organizations in the world and Tony had chased him down and unwittingly breached the walls of his heart. If it hadn't been for the selfless sacrifice of his second, their relationship probably never would've moved past a tight friendship. Now he was home, healed up enough to return to work and he had a reason to go home every night. Life didn't get any better.

**The End**


End file.
